Students confused mum

Helix

Lavendyr wrote: »

Actually, if it's en-suite, £97 per week is not so surprising. Still nowhere near £6k a year in my reckoning though - how long are her terms? Normal uni term = ~10 weeks. 10x £97 x 3 = £2910. How are you getting to £6k?

She really doesn't need an en-suite, in fact I personally think it's better experience for future house-sharing not to have one...it's a real luxury for a student to have his/her own bathroom!

A lot of universities you have to pay outside of term times as well so its normally around 40-42 weeks. So that would make it around £4000, still nowhere near £6,000 though.

Savvy_Sue

At Coventry, DS1 had the choice of a room for term-time only (ie you vacate it outside term-time) or for 50 weeks per year. Cheapskate that he is, he went for term-time only, not en-suite, cheapest rooms they had. Not that I mind having him home, of course!

However, if the OP's daughter has made her choice it may not be easy to change it. BUT she should check whether she's got her figures right, and whether she's gone for the right kind of deal, and whether she can change it now.

Of course if she has got herself a 50-weeks-a-year room, it is then sometimes easier to get a job because you're not going to disappear for weeks at a time!

Penniless_Wonder

At Manchester the contracts are for between 33 - 41 weeks (i.e. you have to vacate for easter and christmas breaks with some contracts but the start and finish dates are the same - 9 month academic year Sep 21 - Jun 21 I think mine was)

And en-suite rooms do cost considerably more. Where I was a room with a sink was £3 per week more expensive than one without! An en-suite added at least a further £12 per week depending on how modern the accommodation was.

A total rip-off, aimed very much at those parents who pay for their children's accommodation and foreign students who tend to take the opinion that they will pay whatever it costs, because it will be worth it when they have their degree. It fails to take those on low-to-middle incomes, and from my own experience those with parents earning next to nothing (myself included) tended to fare MUCH, possibly unfairly, better in terms of their grant/loan entitlement than those whose parents collectively earn £40-60k, but commitments such as mortgage, other children, etc, sometimes don't get factored in as they should.

Idiophreak

The best bet is to work over the summer...If you work at (say) £6/hour, 37 hours per week, that's £222/week - which is around 2.5k by the end of the summer. (shouldn't pay tax). Live sensibly on this over the summer and you should be able to save 1.5k for the next year. Add in a few nights work at a pub and you're sorted...

By the way, surely your son can do better than £4.45/hour...That's just pathetic, esp in the SE.

Broke_Student

Idiophreak wrote: »

which is around 2.5k by the end of the summer. (shouldn't pay tax).quote]

Just being picky here, but at that rate you will be charged tax through PAYEand will then have to reclaim it from HMRC. Don't forget to reclaim tax!

Idiophreak

Broke_Student wrote: »

Idiophreak wrote: »

which is around 2.5k by the end of the summer. (shouldn't pay tax).quote]

Just being picky here, but at that rate you will be charged tax through PAYEand will then have to reclaim it from HMRC. Don't forget to reclaim tax!

Are you sure?

I earnt at £6.50/hour for a summer and didn't pay any...
(having filled out that "I'm a student!" tax form...)