Student Finance won't help me out when I need it?

Jlawson118

Lingua wrote: »

Hello!

I'm a 2nd year myself. Luckily I get full student loan/grant and a stipend from my family so I'm comfortable for funds.

This is going to sound very abrupt, however: is your biological dad still alive? The reason being, as your parents are divorced you can choose which parent to use when reporting income. So, if your dad is alive (again, sorry for the directness!), you can use his financial details.

In my case, parents are divorced but both earn below the minimum threshold anyway so it wasn't an issue. Some people I know have one parent living on minimum wage and another earning 100k+, but they still get full SF. There are always loopholes apparently!

Sidenote: Don't worry about people commenting on your choice of purchasing Apple products or having a car. As a media student you need a device that has enough processing power and while Apple products are terribly overpriced and typically underpowered, they also have a lot of programs dedicated to your field. If the car helps you to attend lectures and not fall behind, it's expensive but sometimes it's necessary.

Lingua

My biological father is still alive as far as I know, although I haven't been in contact with him for nearly three years. He became really abusive and said many things that were hurtful, /'d after I've had this most of my life, it was time to remove him from my life and change my number unfortunately

Lingua

That's understandable. In which case, the best bet is to continue trying to get your stepfather to provide his details. I find his argument about not telling the govt his income a bit silly considering his income will be declared to them anyway for tax purposes!

Hopefully you can find a resolution soon.


All the best
Lingua

Jlawson118

Lingua wrote: »

That's understandable. In which case, the best bet is to continue trying to get your stepfather to provide his details. I find his argument about not telling the govt his income a bit silly considering his income will be declared to them anyway for tax purposes!

Hopefully you can find a resolution soon.


All the best
Lingua

I've just started a job so hopefully things will improve from that

Dird

Jlawson118 wrote: »

I'm studying media

That was your first mistake :rotfl:

Jlawson118 wrote: »

In all fairness, my bus ticket was costing me £100 per month, my car costs me around £120 per month.

It isn't though. Add on another £165/month for your insurance this year. Add on £10/month for MOT/car tax. Add on the £6k you could have used to pay your bus fair for the next 5 years & avoid the hardship. That's not even including the £2k wasted on a laptop

Hopefully you'll learn to spend frugally with your new job

WibblyGirly

I'm going to back you up on keeping the car! I live in York and I know how horrendous Arriva are! I used to live in a village outside Selby and I don't think I was ever at college on time due to the bus always being late, there was also no earlier one and there was maybe 3 or 4 buses to and from the village a day tops.
I'm a student in York now and fortunately I can get a First bus which is so much cheaper with a student year ticket. Arrive cost about £5.50 for a day ticket now and they don't really do returns and week tickets are over £20! (this was years ago though so I expect the price has gone up and the service even worse)

Is your grandma your maternal one? Could your mum have a word with her about your student account and how you really need access to it?
I know you have a lot of work (I'm at uni too in 3rd year) but I'd try keep the job on or at least find one for a few days a week, is there any at uni like an uni ambassador job that can fit around your course?

I'd try get as much work experience as you can as well since I know a number of people who have done media studies and none of them have a job that was relevant to their course :eek:

Jlawson118

WibblyGirly wrote: »

I'm going to back you up on keeping the car! I live in York and I know how horrendous Arriva are! I used to live in a village outside Selby and I don't think I was ever at college on time due to the bus always being late, there was also no earlier one and there was maybe 3 or 4 buses to and from the village a day tops.
I'm a student in York now and fortunately I can get a First bus which is so much cheaper with a student year ticket. Arrive cost about £5.50 for a day ticket now and they don't really do returns and week tickets are over £20! (this was years ago though so I expect the price has gone up and the service even worse)

Is your grandma your maternal one? Could your mum have a word with her about your student account and how you really need access to it?
I know you have a lot of work (I'm at uni too in 3rd year) but I'd try keep the job on or at least find one for a few days a week, is there any at uni like an uni ambassador job that can fit around your course?

I'd try get as much work experience as you can as well since I know a number of people who have done media studies and none of them have a job that was relevant to their course :eek:

Yeah I live in a little village just outside of Leeds, and I go to university in Bradford. There was the choice of three buses to Leeds when I went to college in the city centre, two Arriva, one First but the first bus takes about 40 minutes or even an hour to get into Leeds in rush hour times, and the Arriva's about 15 - 20 minutes at non-rush hour times.
But there's less of a choice with the Bradford buses, both are half an hour apart, and if I had a 10am start last year, the bus was meant to turn up at 8:40, it, would turn up at 9:20am. So when I had an exam at 10am, I had to get the bus around 7:30. It's ridiculous. So passing my test was my aim and my grandma bought me a car to try and avoid the unreliable buses.
And for rush hour times, my satnav introduced me to this country road which nobody really knows about so it lets me avoid the rush hour traffic :rotfl:

Think I was paying about £84 a month for a monthly ticket with Metro, but sometimes a little more. I stopped at my girlfriend's one night in Bradford just as my pass had run out, and I didn't want to top it up straight away, it cost me £3.60 or something one way! And a day rider was around the same as you said, about £5.50 or something. Prices are just rising and rising but then again, fuel prices are. But I don't think I'd mind the prices if they actually turned up..:rotfl:

x__Indigo_x

Wow this thread has really boiled my blood. I got by at Uni with no financial help AT ALL from any family...soley on the student loans. The posters on here that help pay rent or travel for uni for their children are so lucky but you are another level.....You live at home rent free with a nice car, several apple products and money saved for you... yet you want SF or the uni hardship fund to help? Are you actually thinking straight! Use your savings ......im sure your grandmother would rather you use them for uni than 'waste' them on more apple products/nights out/luxuries etc. The laptop okay maybe but the ipad and iphone?!

x__Indigo_x

Jlawson118 wrote: »

On average, for the pass I had, it was worth £150 - £200 for people who weren't a student and allowed for both bus and train access, the £100 was a student discount on a student pass pretty much. I live in Leeds so the local services are either First or Arriva, both operated by Metro. Many people were able to get a First semester pass for around a similar price you mentioned, I tried to get the same for the Arriva service as First doesn't run through the village I live in, not to my university location anyway. So I had to get a Metro pass costing £100 per 30 days. Arriva is the more expensive service but I got a pass that could work on all Metro services pretty much.

I did start using just Arriva for £70 per month but it was phone only passes and my phone was going dodgy around the time, causing me to nearly lose my ticket, so I went back to the physical pass

Arriva 4 week £70 passes can be ordered online to get a hard copy you don't have to have the mobile ones.


Arriva have a student smart card available to cover all of Yorkshire for £515 per year which can be paid via equal direct debit payments. This is not a phone pass its a card ( debit card size)- can be used all year round inc weekends/half term


Metro (mcard)-Bus travel our 19-25 Bus only ticket costs £15 per week and £58 per month.


or M card term time pass to cover bus and train is £560 for mid sept - mid june (so have to pay for travel during half terms)

WibblyGirly

Is there not a cheaper option than arriva?? £500+ for a year pass is nuts!

I pay £200 for mine for a whole year (Sept-Sept) and that takes me all over York.
I'd ask your uni if they have any deals with the buses because 500 is taking the !!!! when they aren't ever on schedule anyway.

GothicStirling

Bit of an old thread, but I can tell the OP straight off what the university are going to tell you if you apply for the hardship money: sell the car.