Student finance - less in second year despite reduction in household income?

jackieblack

DD currently in 1st year, applied for student finance this time last year and was awarded a loan and grant due to household income which was based on both my and my husband's income. The total she received was several hundred pounds more than we were expecting based on on-line calculator.

She has recently re-applied for 2015/16 and as my husband has since left the family home our household income is less than half what it was. She has been awarded a smaller loan and larger grant but the total is around £700 less than last year.
Is this right?

silvercar

How long is her course? The final year has lower levels as there is no funding for the Summer holiday.

Was she living away from home this year and next year? One possibility is that she ticked the away from home box last year and not this year.

jackieblack

silvercar wrote: »

How long is her course? The final year has lower levels as there is no funding for the Summer holiday.

Was she living away from home this year and next year? One possibility is that she ticked the away from home box last year and not this year.

Thanks
3 year course, so not her last year.
Living away from home both years (I'll get her to check that she ticked the right box)


It's the loan part that is quite a lot less (and not the maximum figure quoted on the gov.uk website despite household income only being around £12000). We expected it to be little less due to the slightly higher grant amount, but expected the overall total to be at least equal to what she's getting this year.

silvercar

You could do a rough calculation here:

http://www.studentfinance.direct.gov.uk/portal/page?_pageid=153%2c4680136&_dad=portal&_schema=portal

As if it was a new course- the figures haven't changed as far as I know.

The only other thing I can think of is that it normally asks about last years income, so would she have included both your incomes. It is only if there is a significant difference between last year and this year, that they will assess on this year's income.

Have they asked for proof that your husband is no longer part of the household? They often do, before they will agree to assess on only your income as this is a potential for an easy fraud application (where student declares that Dad is now living elsewhere to max the grant/loan).

Lokolo

Take this as a pinch of salt as I haven't kept up with SL for a while, but from what I remember it was a £1/50p situation. So every £1 you lose in loan you get in grant. It may be the other way round thinking about it

[Edit]

Have you tried using the calculator? https://www.gov.uk/student-finance-calculator

Examples
Household income of £12k, then £28k

£3,862 Maintenance Loan (for living costs)
£3,387 Maintenance Grant (for living costs)
Total: £7,249

£4,146 Maintenance Loan (for living costs)
£2,819 Maintenance Grant (for living costs)
Tottal: £6,965

Loan Difference £284
Grant Difference £568

jackieblack

silvercar wrote: »

You could do a rough calculation here:

http://www.studentfinance.direct.gov.uk/portal/page?_pageid=153%2c4680136&_dad=portal&_schema=portal

As if it was a new course- the figures haven't changed as far as I know.

Thanks, that is really helpful (much more than the gov.uk calculator). It looks like the difference might be something called a 'Long Course loan', it's not something we were aware of previously but the amount looks roughly about what the extra we weren't expecting last year was.
She has work placement for 6 weeks this Easter, including over the Easter break, and a minimum of 12 weeks this summer which is part of her course, so that would make sense for this current academic year, but will also be on a year's placement from next June so shouldn't this also apply for next year?

silvercar wrote: »

The only other thing I can think of is that it normally asks about last years income, so would she have included both your incomes. It is only if there is a significant difference between last year and this year, that they will assess on this year's income.

Have they asked for proof that your husband is no longer part of the household? They often do, before they will agree to assess on only your income as this is a potential for an easy fraud application (where student declares that Dad is now living elsewhere to max the grant/loan).

They haven't asked for anything yet, she said that she just put me down in the bit about supporting the application and what they've awarded her looks like they've just used my income.
I'm in the process of sorting out getting H removed from 'the household' for this year, they said they needed a copy of my amended Council Tax bill to prove that I'm on my own now and it's taken 2 months to get that from my local council!

jackieblack

Lokolo wrote: »

Take this as a pinch of salt as I haven't kept up with SL for a while, but from what I remember it was a £1/50p situation. So every £1 you lose in loan you get in grant. It may be the other way round thinking about it

[Edit]

Have you tried using the calculator? https://www.gov.uk/student-finance-calculator

Examples
Household income of £12k, then £28k

£3,862 Maintenance Loan (for living costs)
£3,387 Maintenance Grant (for living costs)
Total: £7,249

£4,146 Maintenance Loan (for living costs)
£2,819 Maintenance Grant (for living costs)
Tottal: £6,965

Loan Difference £284
Grant Difference £568

Thanks, yes, tried that.
The .gov.uk calculator doesn't shed any light on why this year's award is less than last years when household income has more than halved though

silvercar

Wouldn't your husband still feel the same obligation to support his daughter as when he was living with you?

Voyager2002

silvercar wrote: »

Wouldn't your husband still feel the same obligation to support his daughter as when he was living with you?

That is as maybe, but his income is ignored in the calculation of student loans and grants.

Purplesky_2

I have come out of Uni under the £3000 fees, but I remember my loan going down about that amount too at that stage in the process, with no change to income. It seems that students are supposed to do more with less as they progress, as the course gets harder. It's really unfair, particularly given how high inflation was while I was at University.

The change of loan-grant probably reflects the reduction in income.

jackieblack

DD has received an email from Uni today with additional guidance regarding Student Finance for her course.
It would appear that she should be getting the 'Long Course' allowance, which does not seem to have been included in what she has initially been awarded for next year.
She has received another letter from Student Finance today which we are hoping may clarify this, (although we won't know what it says until she opens it when she gets home on Thursday evening), if not she'll need to contact them.