Can someone help please? :( VERY long post.

thorsoak

I hope that you have made it clear to her that her allowance will finish once you stop receiving CB?

Sounds as if your young lady is gong to have a bit of a culture shock when she starts Uni - you're going to give her a crash course in cookery and a few lessons in laundry!

Tropez

I don't think it is possible to sign on to JSA.

I am pretty sure, although not 100% so may stand corrected, that there are time factors involved so you cannot simply finish a Uni course and sign on. If you've been in full time education I believe you have to wait a few months before you're able to sign on to JSA, specifically to prevent people from signing on to JSA while they're on their summer breaks from college and university.

As for your daughter, it really does depend on the course as to whether she will have work to do during the summer. There are some courses where there is a lot of work to be done because of the amount of information you need to learn and process. There are also quite a few courses that have optional work to be done during the summer.

What your daughter should do is talk with the advisory services at her university (when she gets there) as many universities have links with local businesses to place students during summer breaks into part-time/temporary jobs that are relevant to the courses that they are taking.

My employer takes on around one hundred students as part-time, temporary workers over the summer breaks who are studying for relevant qualifications at one of our five main UK offices. It provides work experience, the ability to interact with those already in the field, a bit of networking for the future as well as a wage and we'll even give a reference in the future too. All this is set up by local universities in the areas where our offices are located.

And, on occasion, we've even lined up jobs for some of the students so that they can leave university and move immediately into a full time job at a trainee level.

So yes, that's what I would be looking into. If her university has such links then she should look to take advantage of them. She might be much more interested in working too if it is a relevant field, rather than some shop work that may not have anything to do with her career ambitions.

tea_lover

Lou67 wrote: »

She seems to be under the impression that her maintenance grant is going to cover EVERYthing and she has no intention of working part time at uni either... I think she is in for a nasty shock over the coming year

It sounds like she is in for a very nasty shock! Does she have any idea of how much rent/bills/food/books/travel etc. is likely to be in the area she's going to? Let alone some sort of social life!!

Uni is always a shock to the system (in good ways!) and you definitely grow up a lot in the first year. But it probably wouldn't hurt to use this summer before she goes to make sure she has some basic idea of budgeting at least.

Lou67

Thanks again to the other posters here. I do feel better now and all your info has been so helpful. Need to dash now. I will be back later xxx

surfboard2

I graduated recently and some people i know worked during the summers, others did not and spent it travelling (some are still travelling!) e.t.c

I managed to secure work (part time) before i went to University and the summer after my first year of uni. My second year, i wasn't so lucky. I remember preparing for an interview with an employment agency who told me not to mention i was going back to university as i wouldn't be considered.

Like someone else said, it's not really about "etiquette," but what you can afford as a family.

I can't really remember doing much "work" during the holiday, but it may depend on the course. However, i was given a reading list a couple of weeks before University started back up again.

RockPaperScissors

I personally didn't have any work to do over the summer - just thinking of possible essay titles for the following year.

Many courses operate whereby you complete the first year to qualify for the second. Then only the second and third year grades are counted towards your final degree grade. this obviously is dependent on the course though.

I personally did not work over the summer. BUT I received maintenance allowance and I put a budget plan together which made that money stretch over the fourth month gap - this ensured that I had money every week to put petrol in my car, visit friends etc. Luxuries were certainly less but at that age I would not have expected my parents to support me

SavingPennies_2

monty-doggy wrote: »

Wold she qualify for some sort of job seekers allowance or similar?

I think it's unlikely.

She could however look into getting a hardship grant from her uni. Incidently they are more likely to give it to someone who does work during uni (not just summers) as this shows they need the money.

cloudy11

I didn't have any work to do in the summer either- well probably a day or so thinking about what I was planning to do the next year for research/ essays.

I worked all through my degree (part time waitress) and then in the summer holidays I worked two jobs as I wanted to save as much cash as possible to have a couple of weeks holiday before going back. I worked in a factory 8am-6pm and then 3/4 shifts in a pub each week too.

I really, really enjoyed working and I loved those summers . I got to save up a decent amount of money, meet new people and friends, go out a lot and could I could afford to treat myself to stuff my parents would never ever have considered paying for (nights out, clothes, holidays etc).

I think it's also really important to have some sort of work AND life experience for when you graduate. I am always amazed at some of the people who have never had to work like that- they always seem to be a bit out of touch and expect things to just happen for them.

Dunroamin

She definitely won't qualify for JSA for the summer holidays between years and, as most people have said, working through the summer is the norm rather than the exception as it's unusual to have much study to do.

I think that you should make things clear to her during the summer or else she may miss the opportunity of trying to transfer her current Saturday job to her university town, which some people are able to do. I think that most parents (if they can afford it) keep their student children when they're at home for the hoidays but giving them an allowance is something that very few people do.

She's going to be in for some shocks but stand firm.

RAS

lou

The way in which funding is arranged means that all university students have to complete all their assignments for the year within the year; for most courses that will mean everything marked and processed by exam boards by the end of June although many will be handed in or assessed much early.

Unless you daughter is doing one of the courses that has an extended year (and she will know that because she will be claiming extra week payments) or she fails an assignement and her university allows September re-takes, she will have no formal university work between handing in her last assignment/doing the last exam in late May or early June and the start of the next year in September October.

The grant/bursary and loans she receives have to cover her for the for the whole year. It is normal for students to work part-time throughout the year. To give you a clue, overseas students are not allowed to work more than 20 hours per week during term-time and some universities recommend that students do not take more than 15 hours a week.

It may be useful to sit down with her and work out what expenses she will have (I assume she has her award letter already). Do a budget so she can see what she can afford.