income support and student loans

pink-princess84

need some advice really. i'm a single parent and my daughter will be going off to school september 08. I would love to go to the local university and do a degree in accounting but am concerened that a student loan will affect my benefits and leave me worse off. Plus student loans are only paid at the begining of each term and i'm not very good at budgeting and will not be able to make it last for 3 months! could anybody give me any advice? thank

Blacksheep1979

pay the student loan into an account that you don't have a cash card/cheque book for and settup a standing order to pay a 1/3 of the loan into an account that you use ever month or set it up to do it weekly

tazzababe

Hey ho!

I am a single parent and should be graduating this summer. Your student loan will affect income support- usually you won't be entitled to receive it, but you can claim it during the summer vacation. You can still get housing benefit and if its only you and your child at home you will get all of your council tax paid (uni give you a certificate to send in). If you decide to work part-time, but more than 16 hours you can claim working families tax credit- they do NOT count income from student loan. Also if you decide to place your child in a breakfast club, after school club or registered childminder the LEA will contribute the majority of the costs (or you can claim through WFTC) this is really useful during school half-terms when your child will have a break but uni doesn't.
If at any time during uni, you begin to struggle financially you can apply for the hardship fund thingy

**I worked part-time in my second year and found that I didn't spend any of my loan for that year, just put it into a savings account. I only worked part-time because I was at uni for 3 days- fitted perfectly with my daughter.
Hope this helps

Kazzajr

Hiya

I am a single parent and am just finishing my first year of an accounting degree.

I'm in Scotland so don't know if it is different but I am still entitled to some housing benefit and am exempt from council tax. Overall taking everything into account I think I am maybe £20 pw better off with my student loan, than I was on income support.

I get paid at start of each term also and have actually managed to budget suprisingly well. I get my CTC and CB paid weekly which is a help, as I am guaranteed this income every week.

I also get help through the hardship fund from uni this helps with book costs and travel. Here's a link to info about this. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/UniversityAndHigherEducation/StudentFinance/StudentFinanceFactsheets/DG_10034873
hth.

I have a question, I wasn't aware you could claim IS during the summer break can someone help me out with this, Thanks.

Oldernotwiser

pink-princess84 wrote: »

need some advice really. i'm a single parent and my daughter will be going off to school september 08. I would love to go to the local university and do a degree in accounting but am concerened that a student loan will affect my benefits and leave me worse off. Plus student loans are only paid at the begining of each term and i'm not very good at budgeting and will not be able to make it last for 3 months! could anybody give me any advice? thank

Do you have any other children? If your student daughter is your only one then your complete benefit situation will change anyway when she leaves school.

If your budgeting skills are weak, is accountancy the right career choice? (Yes, I know it's different but it seems to me to be a relevant question!)

pink-princess84

hi thanks for all the advice. it was not getting housing benefit that was my main concern but otherwise i think i'll go for it.

As for is accountancy right for me - i love numbers, i love sums, i love algebra and basically love maths but didn't get a great grade in a-level maths so dont want to do a degree like that so would love to be an accountant purely cos i just love numbers. But yes my personal spending habits arn't the best but as accountants dont generally handle cash, just reciets and tax forms etc dont think there should be a problem!

Thanks for everyone's advice!

dmg24

Pink Princess,

Have you looked at the course content for the accountancy degree? I started studying towards my CIMA exams, as I wanted to do accountancy for exactly the same reason as you, and can honestly say that I hated it. You actually use very little maths, unless you class entering figures into a spreadsheet as maths!

Accountancy is the right subject for some, and it may be for you, but I would recommend doing a lot more research first ... I wish that I had!

I am now training to be a maths teacher (even though I did my degree in Law), and loving it! x

jaylou

I was a single parent when I started my degree in 2005 and didn't get 100% housing benefit during the academic terms. Apparently my income was too high with the grants and loans and I got 50% of my rent paid. I didn't have a job either! At first they refused my Hb claim outright but I had to do my own calculations and appeal against their decision. You can claim income support from the last day of summer term straight through to your first day in september.
Im not brilliant at budgeting but I managed ok. I paid off catalogue bills and stuff in bulk when loans come through but lived day to day on weekly tax credits and child benefits. You'll manage, we all seem to. Go and get your Degree girl!!:j

lindas66

I'm a single parent and i've opted for the Open University. I had all my fees paid for me as well as receiving a £250 study and £250 towards a new pc, they're now offering to pay for my internet connection too.