WILL MY SAVINGS AFFECT MY MAINTENANCE LOAN?

EDO1

Dear Money Saving Expert Staff & Users,

I am an 18 year old student with some savings around £7000(saved up in 1.5 years). I work weekends and get paid by cash from my work place and my NI number is used so HMRC do see my income. Because I get paid in cash, I don’t deliberatly have to place my saving in the bank, but I really want to open a LISA for a property deposit in the future.

My parents income are in the mid range and but will MY savings affect my maintenance loan for next year 2021 when I go Uni?
My parents are dealing with a lot of debt and financial issues and I help them out sometimes, so I want to make sure that I can get as much as maintenance loan, as I am really anxious about Uni life and living cost.

Thank you for your time

[Deleted User]

Hey
As a dependant student, your entitlement will be squarely based on your parental income unless you can easily evidence that you've been self-sufficient for the 3 years before you start your course.

That route is unlikely if you are paid in hand, the income isn't likely to be deemed sufficient enough for self-support.

As for your savings, SLC don't need to know a single thing about your savings balance i  this regard, only the/any interest you expect to recieve during the year but even on such a healthy savings balance that isn't likely to be much so is unlikely to affect your entitlement much if at all.

I sympathise with your parents plight, but keep in mind their debt situation and outgoings don't impact your assessment.

Do have a look over their income for the 2019/20 income (gross) though, and if they think that their income during 2021/20 tax year (gross) is going ro drop by 15% or more you can also arrange to be assessed on a Current Year Income Assessment which might help get more funding -  you should be wary about providing incorrect estimates as you WILL need to repay funding if you are overpaid, they will recover any overpayment from future payments that might be due to be paid to you.

ARH_2

The student finance system is rubbish for students with parents 'in the middle'. 

I saw the students with well off parents getting allowances commensurate to their private school fees, and students who's parents had little getting several hundreds of pounds a week of extra loan, extra grant, means tested bursaries and scholarships.  There is an article on the main MSE website about the implied expected contribution of parents, but for parents in the middle - particularly if you have siblings - it's just not affordable. The savings I'd built up before uni were super helpful, so you're in a better position that some.  

I'm afraid I don't have any good news. It sounds like you'll find managing your money at uni a tough introduction to adult life, but it'll be one that'll help set you up for the future.