epetition to get student finance start this Sep

surfsister

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/students-grants/


Petition to ask for student financial help from this sep as this years intake are paying £3k in fees but get less help than next years. Students are going to drop out thuis year and reapply next to get a fairer deal.

Sign up folks please

Gemmzie

I'm only taking my HND this year but if I was doing my degree I'd drop out for a year, what a cheek!

surfsister

Gemmzie wrote: »

I'm only taking my HND this year but if I was doing my degree I'd drop out for a year, what a cheek!

well some kids will -due to parental pressure as at the moment they get a full grant if parents on up to £16k ish but from sep 08 it will be on salaries up to £25 k so parents who will get it free will tell kids to wait till 08.

I'm considering it myself!

Broke_Student

surfsister wrote: »

I'm considering it myself!

It does seem like an attractive option.
A student who intends to do a four year masters course at university from a household income of between £18k-£25k will get about extra £4400 tax free (in todays terms) if they choose to defer (assuming household income remains within that range).
What makes it more attractive is the fact that in their gap year (16 months between college/uni) they could easily work full time and earn atleast £12k. If they live at home and manage money wisely, they will be set for the future.
On top of this, they will also gain a years worth of work experience in their gap year, which seems to be more and more valuable to employers with so many people getting degrees!

keeperbear

surfsister wrote: »

Students are going to drop out thuis year and reapply next to get a fairer deal.

That would be a very dumb strategy. What exactly would you do during this "drop out" year? Get a job earning a poor salary? Can't see many students doing this.

Gemmzie

Broke Student, if you haven't already had a gap year and you're 07/08 intake then that's definitely a better plan all ways.

surfsister

keeperbear wrote: »

That would be a very dumb strategy. What exactly would you do during this "drop out" year? Get a job earning a poor salary? Can't see many students doing this.

Earns some money get some experience of the real working world and end up with a lesser or no loan when the new guidelines come in. I'm on your side.

keep the signatures coming folks!

Blacksheep1979

Do you honestly think that

a. The petition will achieve anything

b. Even if everyone in the country signed it that there would be enough time to implement it in a month or so?

Broke_Student

Blacksheep1979 wrote: »

Do you honestly think that

a. The petition will achieve anything

If there are enough signatures then I believe it is possible the petition will achieve its intended goal directly by getting the attention of the decision makers, or indirectly by catching media attention and resulting in further debate once awareness of the issue is increased.

b. Even if everyone in the country signed it that there would be enough time to implement it in a month or so?

No, there would not be enough time to implement a full change in a month due to the large amount of administrative work involved. However, talking about a month timeframe is irrelevant:
- First payment to the majority of 07 intakes will be made only once the course has commenced - probably late September time, which is closer to three months rather than a month.
- Grants are paid in installments. The final instalment will not be paid to students until well into 2008. The SLC can change the amount they credit at installment date. I suppose if they wanted to, they could credit money whenever they liked.
- We are talking about differences in payments over the length of a course which can easily be 3/4 years. The change will put some of this years students at a relative disadvantage not just in 2007 but also 08,09,10...
It still seems sensible for the SLC to offer the new higher rates to everyone from next year, rather than just new intakes recieving the higher amount.

surfsister

Blacksheep1979 wrote: »

Do you honestly think that

a. The petition will achieve anything

b. Even if everyone in the country signed it that there would be enough time to implement it in a month or so?

Maybe not but at least it's worth a try! Apathy is what this government relies on.

Blacksheep1979

surfsister wrote: »

Maybe not but at least it's worth a try! Apathy is what this government relies on.

And investing time wisely rather than in frivolous pursuits is also valuable.