2013/14 Cashback Poll - (total fee waivers + grants + bursaries + scholarships)

TurnUpForTheBooks_2

As an adjunct to the "what is the most in fee waivers and grants for the poorest students" thread, I thought that now the 2013/14 year has started proper, it might be interesting to poll 2013/14 students on the total real financial help they believe they will now receive this year from the state and the university combined (loans excluded please as at 6.3%pa they are not real financial help in my book).

I regret I don't fully know the differences between expectations of SFE students originally resident in England and students plugged in to the respective Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland arrangements, so if any non SFE students wish to partake in the poll, could you also post and explain any obvious differences between the four regions as you see it.

Please calculate and mark your 2013/14 total fee waivers + grants + bursaries + scholarships amount in the poll above within one of the following ranges:

1. Between £0 and £1,499
2. Between £1,500 and £3,354
3. Between £3,355 and £4,999
4. Between £4,999 and £6,354
5. Between £6,355 and £7,999
6. Between £8,000 and £9,354
7. £9,355 and over

I am aware of one example at £9,354 (£3,000 fee waiver + £3,354 SFE grant + £3,000 cash scholarship but have not seen any higher totals referred to in this forum ...

PS Yep there's a minor typo in the second option in the poll itself - it should read "Between £1,500 and £3,354" (not between £1,499 and ...). No big ...

NB This poll is anonymous so don't be shy! You never know, it might turn out interesting!

Erinnire

£3354 SSG
£1508 PLA

First Year Only:
£1500 Fee Waiver
£1000 Cash
£500 on campus food vouchers

I think its a very generous package to be honest. If you aren't happy with the terms, don't go!

TurnUpForTheBooks_2

SSG = Special Support Grant as administered by SFE, right? I understand that partners of full-time students may qualify (or be the qualifying feature!). I can only assume the SSG is paid to the student ?

This raises a somewhat circular argument in my mind - could partners who are both full-time students and both working part-time (as every good low-income family UK student must/should!) qualify each other for SSG in addition to their SFE maintenance grants or is SSG another name for an SFE maintenance grant / an alternative grant which you may not receive concurrent with the SFE maintenance grant? I note Erin details a £3,354 figure for SSG which is I think the same number as a maximum SFE maintenance grant.

And what is PLA please and can someone also explain "Adult Dependent Grant" in the same context i.e. partnerships which include full-time students and adults dependent one upon another?

Are these tyoe of grants (SSG/PLA/Adult Dependants Grant) perhaps denied to students who are still classed as chained to their parents households rather than their own?

Erinnire

TurnUpForTheBooks wrote: »

SSG = Special Support Grant as administered by SFE, right? I understand that partners of full-time students may qualify (or be the qualifying feature!). I can only assume the SSG is paid to the student ?

This raises a somewhat circular argument in my mind - could partners who are both full-time students and both working part-time (as every good low-income family UK student must/should!) qualify each other for SSG in addition to their SFE maintenance grants or is SSG another name for an SFE maintenance grant / an alternative grant which you may not receive concurrent with the SFE maintenance grant? I note Erin details a £3,354 figure for SSG which is I think the same number as a maximum SFE maintenance grant.

And what is PLA please and can someone also explain "Adult Dependent Grant" in the same context i.e. partnerships which include full-time students and adults dependent one upon another?

Are these tyoe of grants (SSG/PLA/Adult Dependants Grant) perhaps denied to students who are still classed as chained to their parents households rather than their own?

If my bf moves in with me we would both be entitled to the SSG despite both working part time. The SSG replaces the maintenance grant and none of it replaces the amount of maintenance loan you can take out. So although the SSG is the same amount as the MG I am entitled to £5500 in Maintenance loan so a considerable sum more, however that extra has to be paid back. The SSG is also not taken into account for any income related benefits such as housing benefit, tax credits etc... So increases your entitlement to income based benefits as it is invisible money really.

If he moved in and wasn't a student we would get the adult dependants grant, As a student couple you do not qualify for the grant for each other.

PLA is parents learning allowance. £1508 per year grant for students with children.

If you are a parent yourself I think even if you live with your parents you would be classed as self sufficient and entitled to the full amount of student finance based on your own income

TurnUpForTheBooks_2

Thanks very much for those pointers/explanations, Erin.

So just to be clear, in the case of a student couple who have both worked part-time and also lived together pre-university for some months, is there an obviously better solution via SFE than linking them to their parents' households and claiming only SFE MG and Maintenance loans? I think you are saying that at the very least, your arrangement means you both would get a full £3,354 SSG and both be offered Maintenance Loans which were not reduced by the grant.

I have a couple in mind - one qualifies for full SFE maintenance grant and the other doesn't by virtue of their applications having been made separately as single people linked to their respective households. Should they explore / claim SSG instead of SFE MG do you think?

It is pretty dumb/unfair I think that HMG attempts to link any student to their parents' household unless they live at home whilst studying at university. Those living away should all be supported equally well on similar grants and scholarship/bursaries as independent low income households, which is how they function anyway for 40 weeks a year at least.

If any parent is rich enough to not blink and subsidise such an arrangement further, giving their child an unusually comfortable student experience compared to the norm, then that parent is exactly the sort I would immediately target to pay much higher tax e.g. as a car purchase tax as proposed in another thread - that tax would then pay for education for all, not just that parent's offspring.

Erinnire

TurnUpForTheBooks wrote: »

Thanks very much for those pointers/explanations, Erin.

So just to be clear, in the case of a student couple who have both worked part-time and also lived together pre-university for some months, is there an obviously better solution via SFE than linking them to their parents' households and claiming only SFE MG and Maintenance loans? I think you are saying that at the very least, your arrangement means you both would get a full £3,354 SSG and both be offered Maintenance Loans which were not reduced by the grant.

I have a couple in mind - one qualifies for full SFE maintenance grant and the other doesn't by virtue of their applications having been made separately as single people linked to their respective households. Should they explore / claim SSG instead of SFE MG do you think?

It is pretty dumb/unfair I think that HMG attempts to link any student to their parents' household unless they live at home whilst studying at university. Those living away should all be supported equally well on similar grants and scholarship/bursaries as independent low income households, which is how they function anyway for 40 weeks a year at least.

If any parent is rich enough to not blink and subsidise such an arrangement further, giving their child an unusually comfortable student experience compared to the norm, then that parent is exactly the sort I would immediately target to pay much higher tax e.g. as a car purchase tax as proposed in another thread - that tax would then pay for education for all, not just that parent's offspring.

I think had they been living together for a reasonable amount of time before applying for student finance they could claim as a student couple in their own right. But if they are still living in separate households with their parents and under 25 they would be still classed as separately claims and dependant on their parents.

Myself and my bf are over 25 so I think whatever our circumstances we would be classed as independent of our parents.

I can't remember what the guidelines are for being classed as independent from your parents. But I suppose if it was financially viable you could become independent for long enough to qualify for higher student finance. But I think you would have less income in the long run than living at home.