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My son has been offered a place through clearing. Dont know where to start !

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As I have said my son has been offered a place at Leeds Met through clearing . Yesterday we had no idea he was going to University. I am a single parent and have no idea where to start with regard to finances or anything else really. Hopefully he will live on campus. Any help, suggestions or advice woulf be gratefully received. x
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  • nimbo
    nimbo Posts: 3,701 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Whoop whoop tell him well done.

    he needs to go to Student finance England, and fill in all of the forms for first years ASAP... The sooner he gets that done the better.

    how far away is Leeds met from you? could he stay at home until he has his loan through? It may take a while to get that sorted...

    Leeds University (proper not met but they're just down the road) when I had my interview there had loads of notices of books for sale, as well as trials for students (psch) that paid advertised on the health science buildings - so tell him to have a look. They were the kind of thing they'd let students do so one involved drinking a glass of grape juice a day for 12 weeks and doing a start IQ, and a finish IQ test nothing scary... (paid about £120 though for not a lot of effort)...

    has he tried calling the accommodation office to see if they have any vacancies on campus or in halls? If they don't they may have a list of other accommodation that he could look into. After the loans this is the next thing to do - tomorrow. There will be a bun fight for what may be left - BUT make sure you look at all the options he may need wi fi or internet connection but he doesn't really need an en suite bathroom if it's going to cost him an arm and a leg.

    when I was in halls we had a small fridge freezer for 9 people food was difficult to find - we'd think it'd gone missing only to find it weeks later at the back covered in a green growth trying to call itself fred... If he is in halls it may be worth investing in a small (freecycled or facebook stylee) fridge for him. Do not pay the earth, and be wary of how much or little space he will have in his room...

    He will ideally need an old PC or lap top to produce essays - unless he is doing computer science or something technical it only needs to turn on, and possibly connect to the internet... It doesn't need to be swish - the naffer the better from the POV of it going missing...

    depending what type of accommodation he gets will depend on what he will need to take with him - cooking etc. wherever he goes he will need bedding, and pillows etc - so if he doesn't drive I'd recommend a set for uni so he doesn't have to bring them home for the holidays... If he does drive he needs to think about parking in Leeds as it is a pain in the bottom and expensive in the town area...

    what will he be studying? there is a grants link in the student section that he could apply for AFTER he has enrolled as they need a letter from the uni on headed paper that his tutor will have to provide... well worth a punt though...

    get him to sign up to doo yoo as he can earn Amazon vouchers for writing reviews which will be useful for books.... and all sorts of other things they sell there...

    make sure he scours the uni boards for second hand texts - my sister paid for one £100 and the tutor (also the author) printed out the one chapter that the students needed for them in the second week... utilise the library copy before buying any that are really pricey to see how often you actually crack the spine... And tell him to get in there first as all the good ones may get snapped up (ours didn't) but it's always good to know at least where to find them. (Our library has rearranged over the summer so I will need to find them all again)!!

    Stashbuster - 2014 98/100 - 2015 175/200 - 2016 501 / 500 2017 - 200 / 500 2018 3 / 500
    :T:T
  • nimbo
    nimbo Posts: 3,701 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    sorry wasn't meant to be so long.

    Stashbuster - 2014 98/100 - 2015 175/200 - 2016 501 / 500 2017 - 200 / 500 2018 3 / 500
    :T:T
  • nimbo
    nimbo Posts: 3,701 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    also i'd recommend a cheap printer - but look at the costs of the ink first as it's worth paying a bit more for a printer that has cheap inks on-line as in the long run you'll save a bomb.

    Epson seem to be good for cheap inks - look on Amazon for the inks mine are about £2.5 each...

    Stashbuster - 2014 98/100 - 2015 175/200 - 2016 501 / 500 2017 - 200 / 500 2018 3 / 500
    :T:T
  • You'll need to apply for student finance, to find out how much he can get, start here:

    http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/student-loans-tuition-fees-changes#12

    Then apply to the appropriate SF organisation for tuition fee & maintenance loans/grants.

    Get looking into accommodation, I have no idea about organising last minute accommodation as the uni may not have any on campus residences left, still phone the accommodation office and ask them for advice in which I imagine they will probably advise your son to rent privately, they may have a list. Also, get your son to look around on Facebook or the student room for last minute rental opportunities .

    Also, student bank account with overdraft should be applied for, you may need the AS12 UCAS letter confirming the university place - which they should send you in the next week or two.

    This is all I can think of, I'm sure many members have other bits to add to this.

    Best of luck, must be a bit of last minute nightmare. Glad I got mine all sorted last month. When is he due to start?
  • Not sure if finances are an issue but if they are until the student loan comes through, there should be a Hardship Fund or Access to Learning who will either give short term loans/grants.

    Don't buy any books until a few weeks in.. Different authors/journals means different writing styles so wait until he finds the ones that are good for him.. Students often sell copies on at a reduced price. Also if he googles them, quite a few can be found on-line.

    Budget for the whole term.. the number of students I know who would blow their loan at the start of the term and then struggle through until the next chq.

    Worth contacting accom as I guess some people won't have made the grades so are unable to take up a place. It's a great idea living on campus if he can..

    What's he studying for? Quite a few departments have writing competitions which have money as prizes lol.. Always a great incentive and looks great on the CV.

    Good luck.. it must be a very exciting time for him:T

    bm
    One debt in 100 days £384/1264(£865 left)
    Pay all your debt off by xmas 2014 £276/18864
    NSD 4 and 4 in a row
  • Thanks for the replies and all the information. Finances will be a huge issue but worth it. He has just returned from a year with a charity in Senegal Africa which sparked him wanting to teach. He will be studying French as he is fluent Senegal being French speaking. This time last week going to University was a pipe dream but thanks to the help of some friends he has at 4.50 pm today been offered a place. I am very proud of him and wish to support him in any way I can but I am a single parent on benefits so am limited money wise. Thanks again for all your help.
  • My son attends Leeds Met - not sure what accommodation will be left on campus? My son is living in a house this year (2nd year) and one of his friends has had to drop out (not touting for business here!). I believe the university has lists of students in houses who have vacancies if he is struggling? I guess they also have information about campus vacancies too. Also there are 2 sites - my son is at Headingly, the other is in the city itself I believe, which will also make a difference to where he will be best living.
    Well done to him anyway and I wish him much future success!
  • Dunroamin
    Dunroamin Posts: 16,908 Forumite
    katiewoos wrote: »
    Thanks for the replies and all the information. Finances will be a huge issue but worth it. He has just returned from a year with a charity in Senegal Africa which sparked him wanting to teach. He will be studying French as he is fluent Senegal being French speaking. This time last week going to University was a pipe dream but thanks to the help of some friends he has at 4.50 pm today been offered a place. I am very proud of him and wish to support him in any way I can but I am a single parent on benefits so am limited money wise. Thanks again for all your help.

    Assuming that as a lone parent your household income is low there's no reason for finances to be an issue. Students from low income families are quite generously supported.

    Congratulations to him.
  • isabellalevi
    isabellalevi Posts: 23 Forumite
    I've been Money Tipped!
    edited 14 September 2012 at 2:09AM
    Everybody above have been very informative and helpful so I will probably end up repeating, sorry :)

    + Apply for Student Finance... He may receieve this later than other students as the deadline was a while ago but they can be helpful and will try their best to get it in on time. You will have to send off financial information to do with your household income and the process can be a drawn out and tiring but worth it in the end. His amount will be dependent on this but you're looking at around £6,000 p/a if household income is under 30k.

    + Tuition fees are covered and will be automatically paid to the university once he is enrolled as a student, these do not have to paid until after graduating.

    + Fees are around £9,000 p/a for tuition alone now and will result in a fair bit of debt, so make sure he is aware of that. However, university is a valuable and rewarding experience that he will LOVE and the rates you back once you've finished are easy to manage and don't kick in until you're earning 15-20k a year.

    + He may be entitled to a university bursary. He need not apply for this as Student Finance England will contact the university. Bursarys can be as high as an extra £1,000 a year and will come in separate installments.

    + As for accomodation he should call up the university ASAP and see if they have any available rooms in halls. If not, he should find housemates in Leeds for a house share. Rent and bills won't usually be more than 350 p/m (more in halls). To find housemates go on Facebook as it's easy to find groups by searching Leeds Met Freshers and people always post looking for a housemate.

    ____

    My parents can't afford to give me money whilst at university but please don't worry, loads of my friends survive on their student loan and overdraft and we all love our parents loads :) There are always bar jobs going around university and I got one in my second year after I had loads of fun in the first year :)

    Hope this helps :) Congratulations to your son too, I hope he has a FAB time.

    X
  • Again thanks to everyone. You are all very kind. Finance has been sorted and was actually very easy to do and we are at this moment waiting for an email to confirm his halls of residence place. All good. Will keep updating. Off to Tesco soon to stock up on Pot Noodle etc.
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