student maintenance loans and step parents

howiebest wrote: »

Student Maintenance Loans and Step Parents

My step son has started his first year at university and we (mother and step father), like many parents up and down the country are now having to make some significant financial savings in order to fund his living costs at university. Our ‘son’ currently receives the minimum maintenance loan (just over £4000/year) based on our household (where he usually resides) income. His halls of residence fees alone (self-catering) equate to £6800 per year (complete rip off) so we have therefore made the decision to pay for his halls of residence fees leaving him with his maintenance loan to pay for his food and living costs (£100 per week).
My views on student finance broadly fall in line with those of Martin Lewis, i.e. tuition fees are a tax and not a loan and represent a good deal for students. Whereas the maintenance loan is too low and requires additional funding which generally has to come from parents. It raises the question as to when does an adult (which our ‘son’ is), legally become financially independent? At present, it is quite clear that the finances of a student in higher education are not independent; they are calculated solely on the household income (parents/step parents) where he usually resides, which technically makes him an dependent adult.

Having got that off my chest, could I ask for advice/ constructive comments to the following hypothetical scenario: -

If my step son returns from university at the end of his first year of study and ‘independently’ decides as an adult (which he legally is) that he wants to live with his actual father (who is a low earner), would this be ok for him to do? The result of this ‘independent’, adult decision would be that he will now be eligible for a maintenance loan of over £8000 per year and therefore saving us approximately £4000 per year. As a law-abiding citizen, I am concerned that it may look like we are manipulating the system for financial benefit even though our ‘son’ would have made the decision for himself which as an adult he is legally obliged to do so.

Should our ‘son’ consider this option as a realistic proposition? Does anyone out there have experience of this scenario and the possible barriers in place to safeguard against it happening? I would be grateful for any advice.

Thanks

As a law-abiding citizen, I am concerned that it may look like we are manipulating the system for financial benefit even though our ‘son’ would have made the decision for himself which as an adult he is legally obliged to do so.

howiebest wrote: »

Having read a little deeper on the subject, it appears that students in HE are classed as dependent or independent. Our son is classed as dependent and therefore his household income is taken into consideration when calculating his maintenance loan. I have yet to find any definitive answer as to what is classed as his 'household' and the criteria used to determine this. It seems to be a very confusing state of affairs with regard to the definition of an adult. In most cases I know of, 18 seems to be the age from a legal point of view, but when student finances are concerned, most undergraduates are conveniently classed as dependent students so that their parents have to contribute significant sums of money. I shall be phoning Student Finance England to clarify the definition of 'household'. Thanks to those who have contributed.