Student finance - is my estimate too big?

lf93

Hello,
I'm wondering if anybody can help me. I'm a returning student and will be going into my 3rd year (not my final year) this September. Had my estimate through for student finance which is as follows:
Tuition fee loan: £9000 (normal)

Maintenance loan: £5710
Plus maintenance grant: £3387
=Total maintenance amount: £9097.

This to me seems very big. I am however at uni for significantly longer this year (44 weeks rather than the usual ~30). My parents' income fell below £25k so I am getting the maximum plus whatever they add on for the extra weeks, but last year I received around £7200, so an extra £2000 seems like a lot.
I've seen stories of people being overpaid and don't want to be in that situation, should I give them a call asking to re-calculate, or just take it as it is?
Thanks!

EDIT: just to add, my older brother is also at university (although pre-2012 system so has always had slightly less than me, and he's going into final year) and is getting around £6000, based on the same info that my parents provided.

brendon

Are you going to a London university? If so, it seems about right.

lf93

brendon wrote: »

Are you going to a London university? If so, it seems about right.

Thanks for the reply. No, not in London.

Taiko

Looks fine to me. £84 a week for extra weeks. Just remember that the maintenance loan is reduced by 50p for each £1 of grant you get, but I'm not sure if you included that in your figures.

lf93

Taiko wrote: »

Looks fine to me. £84 a week for extra weeks. Just remember that the maintenance loan is reduced by 50p for each £1 of grant you get, but I'm not sure if you included that in your figures.

The total is with that taken into consideration; the breakdown says:
Loan not based on household income: £3610
Plus loan based on household income: £3793
Minus loan replaced by grant: £1693
Total loan: £5710
Grant: £3387

=£9097.

With £84 a week extra, I should be getting around £1200 extra than last year, this just seems a lot!

(Just want to clarify I'm not complaining - I just want to cover myself if it is wrong, because it happened last year when my uni gave SFE the wrong term dates and then corrected them in 2nd term, lowering my support by £1000).

Taiko

Without knowing the term dates the university have given the SLC, I couldn't possibly comment, I'm afraid.

If you're concerned, maybe put a bit aside from each payment, not to be touched. If they reduce your payments, you've got the safety net. If they don't, you've got some extra cash for the end of the year!

mlarmour

I'd give them a call and ask them if they could help but ask for what they say in writing. I'd do it so if they then turn around say that you were overpaid you have something that you can use to dispute that. I've just graduated and I have had issues with Student Finance which didn't help as I was just starting at university.

rageagainstessays

Sorry can you explain where these extra weeks are coming from? I'm starting to get a bit jealous... that's loads more than me

Helix

mlarmour wrote: »

I'd give them a call and ask them if they could help but ask for what they say in writing. I'd do it so if they then turn around say that you were overpaid you have something that you can use to dispute that. I've just graduated and I have had issues with Student Finance which didn't help as I was just starting at university.

Won't really make a blind bit of difference if you get it in writing, they could still turn around in future and say you were not entitled to it.

lf93

rageagainstessays wrote: »

Sorry can you explain where these extra weeks are coming from? I'm starting to get a bit jealous... that's loads more than me

The standard length of academic year is about 30 weeks if you take away holidays; I've got extended terms which means my academic year is closer to 45 weeks. I basically have to live for an extra term than other courses, so Student Finance take this into account.

Helix wrote: »

Won't really make a blind bit of difference if you get it in writing, they could still turn around in future and say you were not entitled to it.

Thanks for all the advice everyone, I'm just going to leave it; I wasn't planning on spending that much anyway so I'll have some saved *in case* it's wrong, but I think maybe I'm just worrying too much!

Taiko

Certainly the way forward. I don't think it's wrong at all, but by budgeting as if it was, you'll be in a great position come the end of the year.