New Plan 5 Maintence Loan - Can we reduce the amount?

Bizzywizard

My daughter is going to Uni next month (September 2025). She will be a home student and travel in on the 30 minute train.

She has been offered the £3907 Maintence loan... we have tried working out how much of this she will acutally need. The train is £192 a month (going 4 days a week) or £240 a month going 5 times a week. Over 9 months thats £1728 or £2160. Theres a difference of £2179 or £1747. She hasn't got her timetable yet, but we have been advised Wednesday is a sports day, so no lectures (not sure is this is true)?! Hence the difference figures.

She is also a very health concious girl (a serious long distance runner) so not a big drinker and had always made her own food while at college and plans on doing this to save money (bar the first few weeks when making friends). 

What I'm asking is, in the 3rd term of getting the loan, can this amount be adjusted down? I keep seeing posts about needing more money not less (not much about commuter students anywhere especially the Universitys). She has savings and a LISA which is maxed out and bonds too....she has been saving for years with very little help from us! So she could just pay her own way....but I don't think thats the way to go.

This is probably going to sound strange to most Uni students....but I'm sure there must be someone going through the same situation?

Thanks in advance,

Bizzy

NoMore

Why have you posted this in the pension section? 

MallyGirl

I have requested it be moved

QrizB

Replying while it's still on the Pensions forum ...

She's going to want some spending money during the year. Taking the whole loan will save her from having to eat into her savings. Plan 5 interest rate is RPI and her savings/investments should beat this comfortably*, so she'll be slightly better off with the loan.

* Assuming she's paying attention to interest rates and investment choices, rather than leaving them in a default fund forever.

LHW99

She can always put any spare into a savings account in case she needs it later in the course (student placement?)

DRS1

Don't take this the wrong way but why is she staying at home while at Uni?  She is likely to miss out on a lot of the University experience.

Ibrahim5

As far as I can analyse it you either borrow NOTHING and pay all tuition fees etc then pay nothing back OR you borrow the maximum. The amount you pay back is NOT dependent on how much you borrow, so if you borrow anything you might as well borrow the maximum. Why borrow less and then make the same repayments?

Smudgeismydog

Why do you think it’s the right move to take the loan, even if she doesn’t need it?

silvercar

This thread seems to have been on a journey. I will move it to the student board.

silvercar

There is more than just travel to consider. Student expenses, clothes, socialising, presents, non-uni travel…..

QrizB

Smudgeismydog said:

Why do you think it’s the right move to take the loan, even if she doesn’t need it?

I'm not sure who you're asking, but I'm seeing it as similar to stoozing - borrow cheaply and invest at a higher return than the loan costs.

Stoozing has an entire sub-board on the MSE forum. If you're disciplined (and OP thinks her daughter is) it's very nearly risk-free - especially with a student loan where you only have to make payments when you're earning, so sudden unemployment or illness won't leave you with payments to make while you've got no income.