How much to save for my children's university education?

geek84

Hi Folks

I have twins and hopefully they will be going to university in the autumn of 2019.

I want to start saving for this but don't know how much to save.

I know there will be things like rent, food, clothes, books, travel etc to take care of, but what other things do I need to consider?

Can I get some rough estimate figures to give basic guidelines?

Finally, do you think I'm thinking too far ahead and should wait until they are in the middle of the 1st year 'A' level courses before starting to put money aside?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

Flugelhorn

Having got 2 at uni (not in the same year though) I would say save as a soon as you can.

I know some people will say that they need to get jobs etc but I decided I would support them and they are aiming to get very good degrees and go on to postgrad.
They each get the minimum loan (1400*3 ish a year) - accommodation alone costs more than this, so I pay that and they pay for food, travel, books, clothes etc etc etc

GwylimT

Start now.

One thing I always paid for was contents insurance.

My son studied medicine so he had more than three years at university, while at university he worked at least one shift a week as a health care assistant when he was on placement, when he was not on placement he worked pretty much fulltime, during his very short holidays he would work five days out of seven.

His loan didn't cover his rent, so before he started uni we worked out a budget for food, clothes, travel etc and I used that to see how much support he would need each month. Before his own wage he was around £180 short each month (mainly rent), so I paid him £180 for the first few months. When he was settled in his course and doing his HCA work I dropped this to £100 and he topped it up with his income.

I think including setting him up with cookware etc I spent around £6000 to assist him at university.

geek84

Good Morning Folks

Many thanks your replies.

Would you be able to give rough figures indicating how much to save per month (for example) until they start university (autumn 2019)?
I presume I need to take the following items into consideration - books, rent, clothes, food, travel, contents insurance etc. Is there anything I missed off? On the other hand, do you think it's too early to estimate figures since they would be going to university in autumn 2019?

Finally, who pays for the students fees? Are they around £9k each academic year?


Thanks in advance for your responses.

jackieblack

It's a 'how long is a piece of string' question, I'm afraid
Rent varies enormously depending on where in the country/which university
Books, depends on which course and how good the uni library/second hand book sales are
Travel - depends where in the country / how good public transport is/ whether accomodation is on campus or across the other side of a major city etc
Food - you must know how much they eat?
Clothes - ? Everyone needs clothes, but depending on whether your child buys designer brands or budget label/ charity shops this, again, will vary hugely. You know your children best

You should read up on student loans, but this government keeps changing these so who knows what students in 2019 might be eligible for?

vlad

It will depend on your household income in 2017/18 as to how much student loan they will get (maintenance grants will be history by then but loans will have been increased, and of course uni fees will be a loan). Starting saving now wouldn't be a bad idea and maybe they could add a few bob to those savings by part time working now?

missbiggles1

Flugelhorn wrote: »

Having got 2 at uni (not in the same year though) I would say save as a soon as you can.

I know some people will say that they need to get jobs etc but I decided I would support them and they are aiming to get very good degrees and go on to postgrad.
They each get the minimum loan (1400*3 ish a year) - accommodation alone costs more than this, so I pay that and they pay for food, travel, books, clothes etc etc etc

TBF, you need to be on a pretty good income for the loan to be as low as that.

Andypandyboy

Youngest went off to do a 4 year course in Sept. He gets the minimum loan which doesn't cover his rent. For two of them on minimum loan I would say £1000 per month so if they are on a 3 year course each that is £36000. I think if you have two together there is some special loan calculation though which you can benefit from.

It costs us, very roughly, £500 per month, for all the items you mention.

Poppy9

First thing I would say is if you save for them and it's in their name make sure if it's a policy that has a maturity date that it's not after 1st Sept of the year they start uni as the Student Loan form (Welsh one at least) asks if they have any income from maturing policies etc.

We gave DD a £10k lump sump before starting Uni for her to draw down on if she needed it. She hasn't drawn down at all.

Costs - DD is studying in England but as a Welsh student her tuition fees are reduced to £3500 by a non repayable grant from Welsh Government. She gets student loan of about £5k per year.

Her halls accommodation cost £4600 for Y1 plus had to pay returnable £300 deposit for damages and £15 contents insurance. On top of this she needed money for food, books, clothes etc. She worked part time for Y1 which gave her £130 pm. I gave her money for her books as required - I think Y1 books were about £200 - a mixture of new & used. She said she spent about £15 a week buying food. She's not a big drinker. Return train ticket was £15 if bought in advance with her free Rail card from Santandar!

Y2 & Y3 Student lets are 12 month contracts. Rent just under £400 per month plus gas, electric, water, BB about £40 a month. No TV licence - use catch up.

Food - still spends less than £20 a week on average (she doesn't eat meat), spent less on books in Y2 & 3. She has 2 laptops as she needs a decent size powerful one which she keeps in flat and a smaller decent spec for taking to uni/library.

I insure her contents which include her Iphone with wwww.cover4students.com it costs £87 but it includes lost/stolen/damaged anywhere in Uk, £2000 personal possessions and specified laptop, ipad etc. As its £56 to protect iphone with protect my bubble this one policy from cover4students is most cost effective. Plus the excess is £10

We give her £300 per month to live on as all her SL goes on accommodation. She says we give her too much but she pays her mobile contract from this plus buys her own clothes etc.

We have a BTL which gives us income to enable us to support DD through uni.

DD will graduate with SL in region of £25k. She could use her savings to make a lump sum repayment if she wishes though I would advise her to use her savings to either travel or buy a house.

Setting up your child in Uni can be cheap if you start putting things away that you pick up in sale, use what you have in the home. i.e after students have returned to Uni supermarkets sell off bedding so cheap.

They don't need more than 2 plates, 1 saucepan etc. they never iron so don't bother with one of those.

They do need a washing up bowl for laundry and sickness!!

Regarding how much you save, how much can you afford. Do you intend to give them money each month, if so can you afford to put that money to one side now? If I had twins I would put away say £300 a month now so when they go to uni you can afford to give them both £300 a month at the time, one funded by savings, one by your income. Obviously how much you give them will be dependant on SL. If the only get the minimum it won't cover accommodation in most Uni halls! Living out depends on whether 10 or 12 month contract. Where DD is all 12 month contract so she pays July to June.

DD friend is in Uni in London and rent is £750 a month for 10 months plus bills. Also had to pay £1k (per tenant) to secure property, plus £750 deposit.

Factor in travel costs when selecting Uni. DD wanted to go to Edinburgh but travel costs (and time) changed her mind.

DD doesn't run a car at uni as too expensive but lots of students do.

Poppy9

This is the amount of maintenance loans students can get. Note changes from Sept 2016 for English students

Wales

England

Voyager2002

If they are going to be studying in the UK then basically they ought to live on the student loans available to them. Do save for them, but the money is likely to be of greatest value after they graduate, when they need to do unpaid internships; perhaps undertake professional post-graduate study (eg for Law) where no loans are available; or at the bare minimum pay for a place to live near to their new jobs and perhaps work for low salaries in order to get high-quality work experience.

However, if you are able to save a substantial sum then that could be used to enable them to study in mainland Europe. No loans are available for this, but tuition fees are low or zero so in the long-term this could be a very good move for anyone able to cover the costs of living while studying from savings.