Do all students have it this bad?!

almanack

I was amazed to be presented with documentary evidence of a student at University who is claiming £1000 per year as a student from disadvantaged backgrounds (her mother lives in a million pound house and owns 5 rental properties). Social Services pay her tuition fees of £1200 per anum, give her £30 per week and pay her weekly rent of £55. In addition to this she claims £22 per week living allowance. She also benefits from £4,300 per annum stiudent loan.
What do other University students (aged 19/20) receive? She also has a share of a property in trust inherited from her grandfather which she will inherit in 3 years time.

dmg24

You need to give more details almanack. There must be reasons why she receives these amounts.

almanack

The background is that following a police attended incident where the girl was kicking and pulling her mothers hair she was placed in foster care for a year befoe going to University.There is nothing else of which I am aware that signals her out from all the other students. I was suprised that Social Services paid such funding once she reached 18, I assume this is way over and above what other students get. I have also seen evidence that the mother has been giving her pocket money and bought her a new computer.

dmg24

Those in long term foster care are given additional support to establish themselves into adulthood.

Do you have a personal interest in this? You do seem quite bitter?

Stubert

As the case points out, it all depends on circumstances. But in my first year of uni with being non-income assessed I received a loan of about £3115 (i think). But obviously this varies completely to peoples incomes, and any grants they may be granted which they don't have to pay back.

ladymarmalade

Well personally i am not well off at all. I have to work to jobs, whilst doing a degree including 2 languages....i'm shattered all the time!!!! The last time i went out was the first week of january and i keep my food etc costs as low as possible. I am comforatable due to the money i earn, but if i went out as often as my friends did, I would defientely be in my overdraft, or worse!!!!

I would never be able to survive on the loan (that I have to pay back), it probably just covers house, travel and books!!! I have just booked a weeks holiday in Bulgaria which i have saved up for from my wages!!!

bestpud

It is because she was a looked after child. Most students do not get that level of state support.

Who told you the reason for her going into care - it may have been a hell of a lot worse than you think? Very few looked after children get to university so good on her for doing do.

Maybe you need to think beyond money here?

roxalana

Basically if she was living with her Mum prior to going to Uni then she would only get the non-income assessed support, but as she has quite clearly been in care prior to this and thus has the necessary evidence to submit to the LEA to prove it, she is entitled to be assessed as an independent student and receive full support.

However, social services wouldn't be paying her fees - if she started in 2006 or later she has a fees loan (but would qualify for the maintenance granta dn uni bursary to cover the fees). She also wouldn't get her rent paid or an allowance as far as I'm aware unless she had a dependant child or a disability.

Although it might be annoying that she may (or may not!) be getting money from a trust or parents the rules are there to help students in genuine need. Sadly these rules do mean that some students for example whose parents are divorced get full support as Mum is on benefits even though wealthy Dad provides for them too and some other students who need the extra support don't get it as are unable to prove they are estranged from their parents.

Unfortunately, I don't know how things could be changed to make it fairer.

Matthew_D_2

It does seem a bit strange that she receives so much when her mother is obviously minted.

My parents are poor, so I receive full student support.
I got around £4-5k per year in sudent loan (which is payed back plus interest of around 4.6%)
The university have awarded me around £2k each year except the first year for being in a low income family, and apart from that I've worked for my money, and borrowed extensively from credit cards and banks.

In my 5th and final year I also received £3k from the NHS as I am a medical student, and the NHS payed my uni fees, but every 5th year medical student gets this support.

Broke_Student

It varies according to circumstances - sure there are people who rip the system off but atleast the system manages to facilitate for those in genuine need.

I can say for a fact that I recieve well over £12,000 per year in state support and don't live like a tramp. However, this doesn't tell you a thing about me and it is very important you do not judge anyone without all of the information on their circumstances.

I am probably an example of a student who recieves more support than most people - The money I get is a combination of full fee loans, full living cost loans, full grants, bursaries and scholarships.

However, this is based on both my need and merit. Despite all this support I still do not live a luxurious lifestyle and run out of money at the end of the month! I still have to pre-pack most lunches and do the whole 'value range' food thing at times! Where does it all go?

Tuition fees are £3070. My essential outgoings include over £100 a week in rent, £17 a week travel, plus groceries, equipment, clothing, toiletries etc etc plus non-essentials: trips home, enetertainment and times where I don't want to miss out on what other students are doing (eating out, clubs and pubs etc...). This will increase substancially next year when I will be forced into private sector housing and will need to travel further out into London as part of my course.

I could not be doing what I am without state support despite how hard I have worked. I know I have room in my budget to cut back slightly but I do not feel guilty about accepting the support - my course leaves me with little time to do part time work and the scholarship is based on my merit alone. I spend alot of my spare time volunteering and fundraising for charitiy.

I am just greatful for the oppurtunity.

Of coarse the bigger picture is that I am just being given the oppurtunity to put myself into debt. My coarse will take another 4.5-5.5 years to complete and if I take full funding each year I will have about £40k of student loan debt before I start my career. But I'm happy with that and that's all that matters :rolleyes: .

System

I know a girl whos rich doctor & lawyer parents have retired early. They bought her her own house (under their names), and claim she pays them 'rent' to stay there. Their daughter gets everything paid for her (full bursary, grant etc.) upon the basis that her main providers have no income and she is living away from home & paying her way.

The system is flawed.