I need a basic guide to being a parent of a student!

wordsfan

Daughter is going to be starting uni next academic year. 

It’s a looooong time since I was a student and I no longer have any idea how any of it works 

To complicate matters I’m in Scotland and she’s going to uni in England 

would very much appreciate guidance/hints/tips on: 

Student finance/loans 
accommodation 
likely costs 
how to guide her correctly financially speaking 

I’m on disability benefits myself at the moment 

even if anyone could signpost me to a good advice service ? Would be very much appreciated. 

MalMonroe

Is your daughter Scottish? I note that you are in Scotland yourself. If she's Scottish (or Irish) she could go to Uni in Scotland for free.

However, there's this link as a starter - https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/student-advice/finance/student-finance-and-funding

Your daughter should also get info from the school she's at now (coronavirus permitting) as well as from UCAS when she applies. 

Government info about funding here : https://www.gov.uk/student-finance/new-fulltime-students

My daughter's doing an MA at a university based 300 miles away right now but teaching is all online so accommodation hasn't been an issue, she's just stayed at home.  Things are very different from when I was a student too!

wordsfan

She is scottish but will be attending uni in England which I’m really struggling to find info on 

yes I know she could go for free here but the course she likes is in England - long story! 

Spendless

Hi, I'm the parent of a Uni student on yr2 of degree, but he's been there for 3 years as he had to do a foundation year first. He's English studying at an English Uni so I don't know if finances will be exactly the same.

His tuition fee £9250 per year is met in full by a student loan. He never sees this money it is paid direct. 

His maintenance loan is dependant on the household income of who he lives with, in our case me and his Dad. This is for his living expenses including rent

Rental prices very much depend where you are studying. Some areas are higher than others. 

On the Uni website, of the place she wants to go isn't there info on halls of residence and the costs of them?

In the 3 years son has been away, his rental costs have also included heating, lighting, internet connection and for the past 2 years tv licence. Not everywhere does though, some charge separately. We have only paid for his mobile phone bill and insurance n addition to rent. Son has had no travel costs as studying in a town where everywhere is walking distance. That might be something to consider what the rent is of somewhere close to Uni compared to being further away and adding travelling costs on (plus time)

She'll need things like bedding, pots, pans, crockery, cutlery etc to take with her. If she doesn' know how to cook, get her to start learning some simple dishes now. Get a student cookbook if need be.  

wordsfan

We need to speak to student loan people about maintenance loan I think. 

About checking with uni she’s going to - problem is we don’t know where that will be yet. She has conditional offers for 2 and unconditionals for 3 and she’s dithering over acceptances (don’t get me started!) 

She is fine with cooking etc lol I know not all are, she’s a pretty practical person and a good cook actually. If anything she’s gonna have to make decisions on what kitchen equipment to leave behind! I doubt there’ll be room for her magimix, instant pot etc! 

My main concern there is actually some of it is quite nice/expensive and I worry about it getting nicked, she might be better getting some cheaper options for student life and leave much of it behind. 

There are some complicating factors I don’t wish to necessarily post here if I can avoid, could I message you? Totally ok if you don’t want me to 

she never does things the easy way!! 

Spendless

@wordsfan - send me a private message if you wish.
They do all share kitchens and use use each others stuff etc, so she might be best leaving it for her first year at least when she doesn't know who she'll be sharing with. In subsequent years they tend to share with people they've become friends with. 

dinkygirl

A good place to start for average living costs I found was the Which university budgeting site

https://www.which.co.uk/money/university-and-student-finance/student-budget-calculator

you can set different parameters for whichever uni she’s going to.
when it comes to accommodation be practical and realistic. If she has real anxiety about shared bathrooms then she needs to make that clear as Crystal and they will do there best to accommodate that. Halls run by the university itself are very much the same all over but if there is anything not quite right wherever she ends up she must let them know. My daughter hasn’t has internet in her’s since September. 

Likelihood is she’ll not have more than a shelf in the fridge and another in the freezer so food economy is important. I saved supermarket vouchers for her before mine went and did a good shop of cupboard staples and enough fresh to last her a week or two when I dropped her off. 

She doesn’t need to take as much as you think. I made list after list of stuff for my daughter. Filled my car and then still went to IKEA once we were there. Soon as she gets her accommodation allocation she should be able to find out who she’s sharing with. Encourage them to collaborate with kitchen stuff, they won’t need 4 tin openers or 4 lots of 16 place setting dinner sets. 

Extra blanket or a heavy tog duvet, they tend to have storage heaters which are rubbish. 

Student finance is open now with the Student Loans Company. If you have Twitter they are great at communicating through that. Any questions and they will help. 

Student bank accounts; don’t be swayed by offers of free amazon prime. If you have that already look to add your daughter to yours as a family member. Look at the way they off the interest free overdrafts as that’s more useful and they don’t all offer the same year in year. Whichever bank she chooses see where the local branch is near her uni. 

I encouraged my daughter open a basic cash account too. All her money and uni bills go in and out of her student account and she gives herself a monthly allowance into the other account for daily spends and food. The biggest bills are fees and accommodation. The maintenance loan is normally paid to the student 3 instalments and you can arrange to pay her accommodation in 3 instalments to coincide with these. She needs to understand that what’s left is then for everything else. My daughter got the maximum loan amount and even with a low rent she’s £100 on average student spending short every month. She knew she would have to get a job. And most students do have jobs and have plenty of time to work and study. COVID has obviously put a spanner in the works but because she hasn’t been able to go out it’s kind of cancelled it all out so she’s been ok. The uni will have a recruitment agency on campus who’ll be able to help her if she needs it. 

What else.....see this was me last year lol so it’s fairly fresh and I’m a planner so I had everything listed, planned and ticked off. 

Use the summer to have a ruthless sort out of her room at home, eBay and Facebook marketplace could earn her a little pot to put towards any little touches she wants for her room. 

Have her do the supermarket shop with you and plan meals so she’s getting an idea of portions to buy without food waste or extra expense. Remember little yellow stickers can be a best friend. Buy meat with a yellow sticker if it’s the cheapest alternative and even if you don’t want to have it that night cook the meal and freeze it. 

There are a load of student ideas on Pinterest with lists of what to take and links to articles about what I wish I’d known before and what I didn’t need to take. 

The Student Room forum is full of students with a load of advice on EVERYTHING. 

Any questions please ask. I’m surgically attached to my phone so always here 😁
if I think of anything else I’ll add it. 

willow_loulou

Oh I feel your pain, we researched and visited but still struggled with just about every aspect of uni life this year. I’d chalk it up to Covid but honestly we had to clarify so much by email because websites sent us round in circles. 

Biggest things. 

Maintenance loan is paid in 3 parts to help budgeting, an automatic payment was set up to pay for halls.
she opened a savings account online through her banking app and keeps all her money in there, transferring her weekly budgeted amount to her card account. 

Don’t expect to get the best halls, we were absolutely misled about when to apply for the housing by her college - she ended up in her last choice and it’s frankly awful for the money. The facilities basic at best. I’m sure some will consider it character building but honestly I was shocked at the condition of the bathrooms and kitchen.
Start buying bits now, we got loads second hand and she enjoyed trying to find the best for as little as possible. Some charity shops do new stuff heavily discounted. We also got gifted lovely items from friends and family. We also bought food items before hand, instant noodles and pots of porridge. She had a kettle in her room so she didn’t have to share facilities all the time. It just felt safer as so many broke Covid regs and were in and out of each other’s rooms etc (each room became a household and they we’re supposed to stay in alone) She kept all her kitchen stuff in her room and all her non perishable foods. 
We also got gift cards for M&S and Sainsbury’s as they were the closest places to get food shopping. She had intended on buying them each time she got money but has been home since November and won’t be returning to that uni other than to empty her room. She’s decided to stay home and commute so is moving uni in September. 

The wardens are amazing if your daughter needs help with anything. Find their base and get their contact email. 
Don’t expect her to find a job, with the rate of unemployment rising loads will be fighting for every position. I’d contact places ASAP, especially if she’s not going to get full maintenance loan. 

Do pm if you’d like any specific advice as I’m loathe to do too much detail on here! 

Good luck. 

wordsfan

Thanks to all. It’s such a minefield! 

Why on Earth isn’t there a clear, central place to advise students and parents? Slc can only advise on that aspect, unis can only advise on accommodation to a certain degree... seems like there’s a real gap on the info availability thing 

Seems we’re left to find it all bit by bit and somehow put it all together. 

silvercar

Last night’s Martin Lewis money saving programme on itv was all about student finance.

Song

My daughter (youngest of four children and all went to uni) graduates this year.  The most useful thing we bought for all of them, and the one remarked on by their friends, was a really good memory foam mattress topper.  Beds in student accommodation tend to be cheap and well used.  A mattress topper makes all the difference.