Student Loan And Money

blondie21

My daughter is for uni in sept ( hopefully) she has applied for and been granted the full loan of approx £2600.Is this just for year 1 and can she apply again for year 2? I am a single parent on low income and just wondering how i will cope ( and she more importantly)

Savvy_Sue

It's just for year 1 - there will be more forms for her and you to fill in at the end of year 1 so she gets it for year 2. They can't give it for the whole period up front, in case she drops out, changes course, your circumstances change etc etc etc.

Fingers crossed for next Thursday, eh?

toastinbowl

I'm assuming (by the next Thursday comment) that you are in England. I don't really know how it works there, but in Scotland you can also get a Young Students Bursary, which you can get in addition to the loan and it doesn't ever need to be paid back.

They are great for students coming from low income families as it decreases the debt you get into just while studying. I know, I get one too! You can apply for the loan AND bursary every year you study.

Dave

BWZN93

blondie21 wrote:

My daughter is for uni in sept ( hopefully) she has applied for and been granted the full loan of approx £2600.Is this just for year 1 and can she apply again for year 2? I am a single parent on low income and just wondering how i will cope ( and she more importantly)

Hi!

The full loan amount is more than £2600, are you sure thats what she has been awarded? Or does she have the full amount and has to pay tuition fees?

And you have to apply every year for another student loan, so when the forms come through around easter time, dont forget to send them back like my boyf did (Weeks 1-3 of year 2 was spend eating 8p noodles!)

Try and get her to work out a budget before she goes to Uni, so that she knows how much a week she has to live on - especially if she goes down South, ive known people who had a budget of £24 per week for food, bills, booze, clothes, text books.....

A good student bank account is also a good idea, but tell her not to spend the o/d in the first term!! Its tempting to blow it all in the first term of parties and booze and new clothes - but after that comes the hardship. She needs to use the o/d facility as a stooze ideally - and pay for essential deposits etc out of it.
If she thinks she might run out of money, tell her the Student Finance office can help, they often give short term loans, extra loan money, and grants.

Finally - dont forget that in around January, student start to freak out about where they are going to live next year and start the student rentals frenzy. This can be extremely expensive and letting agents fees,a months rent as deposit, and a post dated chq for a months rent in advance is usually the norm. Having an estimate of these costs in advance is a wise idea, and save for them (I had to loan the money from the parents of a freind - £430 wasnt factored into my budget and as soon as my 1st yr exams were over I had to get a job to pay the rent on time)

If I knew all this before I went to Uni id have been a much less stressed person!

HTH

Jo xx

dr_who_3

The full student loan amount (for those whose parents earn less than £20,000 ish) is £4,195 for this year. Plus you should be able to get tuition fees paid for by the LEA. Also some students whose parents are on low incomes are entitled to a maintenance grant of £1000.
It's all explained on this website:
https://www.dfes.gov.uk/studentsupport/

blondie21

Thanks for all your help, my sis dosn't have a computer and yes she is dreading next thur ? I have this all ahead of me.It seems scary stuff.furtherest we all got was "O levels". Savvy ,are you too waiting for results next week ?

Savvy_Sue

blondie21 wrote:

Thanks for all your help, my sis dosn't have a computer and yes she is dreading next thur ? I have this all ahead of me.It seems scary stuff.furtherest we all got was "O levels". Savvy ,are you too waiting for results next week ?

No but DS1 is! We know his loan and fees application is 'being processed' - 4 separate letters from LEA on Friday, all in separate envelopes, giving us his ID number and our (parents') passwords etc - but still not sure how much he'll get.

And sorry I didn't pick up on figures in first post, it did seem a bit low but I'm a bit witless these days.

eenu

wow learnt something new! I thought the top up fee situation started this yr!?!

Savvy_Sue

davidmoore83 wrote:

wow learnt something new! I thought the top up fee situation started this yr!?!

No, not this year, but not everyone gets their full fees paid, depends on parental income (or yours if you're independent student).