Student Loan: is applying without Mum possible?

Oldernotwiser

lillyofthevalley wrote: »

No, I do not have that option at the moment.

So, if you don't have the option at the moment, why do you say you're having to keep your income low deliberately? You're obviously doing well to support your family without resorting to benefits but I don't really see the point of some of your posts. I'd just concentrate on getting your career back on the road as soon as you're well enough to do that.

lillyofthevalley

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

So, if you don't have the option at the moment, why do you say you're having to keep your income low deliberately? You're obviously doing well to support your family without resorting to benefits but I don't really see the point of some of your posts. I'd just concentrate on getting your career back on the road as soon as you're well enough to do that.

No, I'm not doing well but we manage, as I've been brought up to do so.
I can see that some of you do not understand, so obviously there's another side of the population that is doing so well that they have not got the foggest about those who do not.
Yes, I'm most definitely working on a career path while my daughter is still at college.

Thank you to all who posted with useful replies, and now I shall get on with my life as usual.

Rikki

My son is away studying. He comes home only for the holidays and then he's working. For his loan assessment it is based on my income. I don't see a problem with that.

I'm not sure they can be assessed themselves unless they are an older student who is living independently and has been working. I may be wrong.

lillyofthevalley

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I'm afraid that this seems just daft reasoning. If you're able to get a much better paid job then surely it's worth doing this and then giving your son and daughter the same money she'd get on EMA and and he'd get on the income assessed part of the loan. Off the top of my head you're only talking about a couple of grand a year. They'd then be in the same financial situation as they are now, you'd be a bit better off in the short term and considerably better off in the long term. deliberately keeping your income low so that they can claim a few extra quid seems like madness!!

I've been thinking about what you've said all afternoon and it has made me think quite a lot.
My confidence gets the better of me, at times :-( , or the worse. Sorry!
I don't know if I can find a job that pays better. I can only try. There's got to be better than this and, as you said, I'd be a bit better off in the long term, and I think that my children will learn that Mum cannot do everything.
(Pay my daughter instead of her receiving EMA if I do reach the £15,000 threshold? If that's going to get my shopping done and the dishes washed (and put away without asking ), along with good marks in college then it might actually be a good incentive for her. I hadn't thought of that. Thank You :-) )

[Deleted User]

any money your son earns in term time isnt counted as earnings,only money earned in the breaks,as for your daughter she can also work and not affect her EMA,your son can apply for maintenance grant without declaring your income,but in that case the max he can get is 75% of the avaliable money.

Oldernotwiser

lillyofthevalley wrote: »

I've been thinking about what you've said all afternoon and it has made me think quite a lot.
My confidence gets the better of me, at times :-( , or the worse. Sorry!
I don't know if I can find a job that pays better. I can only try. There's got to be better than this and, as you said, I'd be a bit better off in the long term, and I think that my children will learn that Mum cannot do everything.
(Pay my daughter instead of her receiving EMA if I do reach the £15,000 threshold? If that's going to get my shopping done and the dishes washed (and put away without asking ), along with good marks in college then it might actually be a good incentive for her. I hadn't thought of that. Thank You :-) )

I was glad to read your post as I was worried that you might have misunderstood me and thought that I was being critical. I genuinely felt that you were doing a good job but just thought that some of your problems could do with a fresh approach and a bit of lateral thinking. All the best.

lillyofthevalley

woodbine wrote: »

any money your son earns in term time isnt counted as earnings,only money earned in the breaks,as for your daughter she can also work and not affect her EMA,your son can apply for maintenance grant without declaring your income,but in that case the max he can get is 75% of the avaliable money.

That's very clear. Cheers! :-)

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I was glad to read your post as I was worried that you might have misunderstood me and thought that I was being critical. I genuinely felt that you were doing a good job but just thought that some of your problems could do with a fresh approach and a bit of lateral thinking. All the best.

A bit of lateral thinking that got a breath of fresh air in my thoughts.
(I'm sorry for over reacting, it just gets a bit much at times)
Thank you for that :-)

bestpud

I may be wrong but I'm pretty sure you can earn a lot more than £15,000 and your dd will still get the maximum EMA. I think it is closer to £20,000 actually. Plus EMA is based on last years income so even if your income rose considerably this year, it wouldn't affect her payments until next year afaik?

And for HE finance, you can earn up to around £21,000 and your son will still get full support.

Tbh though, even if you earned a bit more than that, it is calculated on a sliding scale so they would still get some help.

Do something for you now they are older - they'll survive and you'll still be there for them emotionally which is worth much more than money imo!

Good luck with your career plans.

Money_saving_Martyn

dmg24 wrote: »

Why is it done this way? I don't know if anybody has told you this, but parental responsibility rarely finishes at 18. :rolleyes:

The problem is that so many students are supported by their parents. It annoyed me in my first year of uni when I was trying to be independant, working part time and living within a buget (which is 100% possible) when others were calling home claiming to be starving.... calling on their new contract mobile phone, wearing their new designer clothes which they bought the day after they spend £100 binge drinking.

Parently responsibility may not end at 18..... caring loving and helping should never end, but when someone becomes an adult, they should be allowed to be treated as such. My parents are there if I need them, but treat me as the adult I am. Student finance, however, continue to assess parent's incomes for loans and the amount of fees..... but then the STUDENT is the one that has to live off the loans.... and pay the fees. There is no legal obligation for parents to fund a student that I am aware of....

The_One_Who

Money_saving_Martyn wrote: »

The problem is that so many students are supported by their parents. It annoyed me in my first year of uni when I was trying to be independant, working part time and living within a buget (which is 100% possible) when others were calling home claiming to be starving.... calling on their new contract mobile phone, wearing their new designer clothes which they bought the day after they spend £100 binge drinking.

Parently responsibility may not end at 18..... caring loving and helping should never end, but when someone becomes an adult, they should be allowed to be treated as such. My parents are there if I need them, but treat me as the adult I am. Student finance, however, continue to assess parent's incomes for loans and the amount of fees..... but then the STUDENT is the one that has to live off the loans.... and pay the fees. There is no legal obligation for parents to fund a student that I am aware of....

That's assuming that all students can become independent at 18, and that is simply not true. I still live at home due to not being able to afford to move out, and it was the same for most of my friends from school and the ones I made at university. Now, (going into third year of four) there are a few people getting flats but these people can rely on their parents, those who truly can't are not risking it. I'm sure if I moved out, and took out the largest available loan and worked part-time then I would still be scrimping and saving and not entirely comfortable with my situation. Those who had moved out for first year had their parents paying for their accommodation, and most still do rely on their parents to pay rent for them. Obviously that's just my experience which could be completely different to everyone else's.

If someone wants to move out at 18 then good luck to them, I know someone who moved out at 15 and is doing very well for himself. Not everyone can though. For the vast majority of people at 18 they have not worked for long enough to have a stable financial history or have substantial savings, so taking parental income (which can be a good indicator of the student's financial state) is the only way to differentiate.