Mature student finance help

aesir22

Hi everyone,

I am 28 years old and hoping to join Durham University this coming September to study foundation degree physics and astronomy. But I'm a little confused with the finance options I have available. I have no children, no adult dependants and no disability. I used the student finance calculator on the gov website. It says I may be entitled to up to £9000 tuition fees, a maintenance grant of 3300 and a maintenance loan of 3800. So I will have a little over 7000 for the year. This isn't enough to cover my rent and bills, obviously, so I am going to continue working part time alongside the course to supplement the maintenance grant and loan. I am currently doing a course with the Open University. My first module paid for with a tuition fee loan, but I find it really isn't for me; I need a brick uni lol. How will this affect things?

Does it matter how many hours I work? Ideally I'd like to work 16 hours or so, but will the finance available to me be affected by the amount I am working? I currently earn £18,500 before tax working full time. Also, is it true I won't have to pay tax if I am a student, but still have NI deducted? I also understand I won't have to pay council tax? Is this correct?

So yeah, I'm gonna have to work to be able to live, which I'm fine with. Just wanted to know if my earnings this year or during study will mess up my finance lol. And are there any other finance options I may have missed?

Appreciate any help everyone!

Daniel

DreamerV

Full time students generally don't have to pay council tax. Some universities inform the council, but with some you have to notify them yourself.

I've been told by student finance that my wages don't count against the amount they loan/grant, but unearned income does (e.g. bank account interest, and any income from property).

Your uni may have guidelines on how long you should work as a maximum. My school at university prefers people not to work more than 16 hpw as the course is rather intense. Others are happy with 20 hpw of work.

Fire_Fox

Foundation degree or foundation year?

I was very comfortably off last time I was a mature degree student with student finance tho I thought I was going to be stony broke. I reviewed ALL my outgoings, living arrangements, took advantage of all sorts of generous student discounts, and had relevant paid work lined up before I started the course so had income from week one which many students do not.

Foundation degrees are generally classed as full time courses, even if there is not a massive amount of attendance. You are expected to do relevant 'work experience' (paid or unpaid so start organising this now if you want paid) and do a fair bit of independent study. If you work too many hours you will struggle to keep up with your coursework.

You don't pay council tax if a full time student (get a certificate from uni but keep paying until this is accepted by the council) and earned income doesn't count only unearned income such as rent on a property you don't live in, interest on savings etc. You will still pay income tax if you bring in over your personal allowance same as anyone else.

Have you considered moving into shared student accommodation to save on rent and bills? Perhaps living with a mature, overseas or masters/ PhD student rather than 18 year olds away from home for the first time. Overseas students tend to be from a wealthy background, like living in nice flats and are serious about their studies.

Do you need to run a car (if you do) or could you be clever with where you live and walk, cycle or use public transport? Many unis discourage students driving anyway, due to green and parking issues. Local public transport is often half price for students but you might need to pay for a cheap photocard, student railcard for national travel is a third off but does cost a fair bit. You can get this at 28 by proving your full time status.

Do you know where every last tenner of your income goes at present? http://www.stoozing.com/msoc/soacalc.php
Don't forget interest free overdrafts, you might want to consider changing bank so you have a 'history'
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/Student-bank-account

Do you have/ use a gym membership? If so you may be able to get a student membership at your uni or get student discounts at a college or council gym. I even went so far as to mostly shower at the gym, so I cut back on my utility bills. That plus no council tax plus student travel discounts saved me so much money over my previous outgoings. :cool: There is quite a bit of faffing working out what you are eligible for and getting all the different proofs together, but it's worth doing as soon as you enroll.

Dunroamin

If this is the course, it's a foundation year and not a foundation degree.

https://www.dur.ac.uk/courses/2013/info/?id=4274&title=Physics+with+Foundation&ucas-code=F302&degree=BSc&year=2013#coursecontent

aesir22

Yes its a foundation year, on their direct progression programme...basically do that year then jump straight into the undergrad degree