University - class of 2021

[Glee Fan]

Originally Posted by windsor_hills

DDs loan won’t even cover her accommodation costs. Depending what accommodation she ends up with, we are looking at least probably £1k shortfall... more likely £2k and then there will be food and living costs on top. Like with anything else, I’m sure we I’ll get by, I just think the amounts they can charge are outrageous.

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This is us exactly as well, only times two 🤦🏼 I’m trying not to stress but I know we will have to cut our cloth accordingly.

[windsor_hills]

Originally Posted by Glee Fan

This is us exactly as well, only times two 🤦🏼 I’m trying not to stress but I know we will have to cut our cloth accordingly.

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Luckily there are 3 school years between our kids, so (hopefully), one will just finish before the second one goes. So same amount overall but over a longer period. I quite like beans on toast luckily

[Themousefamily]

My daughter will be starting university September 2021 and as she is our eldest, the fact finding that we’ve done so far is quite an eye opener 😂 when I was at university, my catered halls Were £70 a week 😂
Anyway, her main criteria seems to be not going too far away geographically and so her choices are Plymouth, Exeter and bath. I’ve just used that link for student finance which was really useful and looks like her means tested loan would be approx £4000 if she is living away from home and £3000 if she lives at home which I found a little strange. So if she stayed living at home , the loan would cover all her books/transport/entertainment etc but if she lives away, it wouldn’t even cover the rent and we would have to fund probably another £3 - 4000 in rent, plus food, entertainment, books, clothes. I’m surprised there is not much difference between the amounts of loan but a vast difference in outgoings. Anyway, I have stressed to her to not allow the finances to make her choice, but I just don’t know if she could deal with leaving home from an emotional point of view. I would really like her to because I think there is so much to be gained from it but it is her choice obviously.

[kathrynmc]

My DD will only get the basic, so the remaining rent and living costs with be paid by us.

There is quite a big difference between the en-suite rooms at Lancaster and York

[vanlou]

Originally Posted by Themousefamily

My daughter will be starting university September 2021 and as she is our eldest, the fact finding that we’ve done so far is quite an eye opener 😂 when I was at university, my catered halls Were £70 a week 😂
Anyway, her main criteria seems to be not going too far away geographically and so her choices are Plymouth, Exeter and bath. I’ve just used that link for student finance which was really useful and looks like her means tested loan would be approx £4000 if she is living away from home and £3000 if she lives at home which I found a little strange. So if she stayed living at home , the loan would cover all her books/transport/entertainment etc but if she lives away, it wouldn’t even cover the rent and we would have to fund probably another £3 - 4000 in rent, plus food, entertainment, books, clothes. I’m surprised there is not much difference between the amounts of loan but a vast difference in outgoings. Anyway, I have stressed to her to not allow the finances to make her choice, but I just don’t know if she could deal with leaving home from an emotional point of view. I would really like her to because I think there is so much to be gained from it but it is her choice obviously.

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My eldest has just started her 3rd year at Plymouth - she loves it. We live about an hour away so she commuted by train the 1st year and has house shared for the other 2 years. It meant she could save a bit the 1st year which really helped top up the rent/food expenses the 2nd year, plus she was ready to live away by the 2nd year. She is quite anxious and this definitely worked for her.

My youngest is looking to get into Arts Uni of Bournemouth to do make up for media & performance but it’s a difficult one to get into. Luckily we went to the open day last year - she has taken a gap year this year (plan was to work for the year at a local salon to get some experience/money but covid has put paid to that ). So starting to look at the ucas application now.

[Themousefamily]

Originally Posted by vanlou

My eldest has just started her 3rd year at Plymouth - she loves it. We live about an hour away so she commuted by train the 1st year and has house shared for the other 2 years. It meant she could save a bit the 1st year which really helped top up the rent/food expenses the 2nd year, plus she was ready to live away by the 2nd year. She is quite anxious and this definitely worked for her.

My youngest is looking to get into Arts Uni of Bournemouth to do make up for media & performance but it’s a difficult one to get into. Luckily we went to the open day last year - she has taken a gap year this year (plan was to work for the year at a local salon to get some experience/money but covid has put paid to that ). So starting to look at the ucas application now.

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Thanks for this response - this is really useful. We actually live in a suburb of Plymouth and my main concern with her staying here and going to Plymouth uni is that she won’t really make friends as everyone will make friends in halls. But from your experience, your daughter obviously still managed to make good friends whilst living at home. My dd is also anxious and shy and is a real home bird. I just want her to have the most positive experience possible.

[Cloverlady]

Originally Posted by ChoppyGirl

Same for us. DD is about £800 short on the accommodation fees and we give her £50 a week for food etc. We also paid for a bus pass. Don’t forget any extra equipment for the course - we had to pay about £400 for PPE such as safety boots, scrubs etc as DD is doing vet med.

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We are similar to ChoppyGirl above ^^^

We only get the bare minimum, and our son applied for self catered halls and got offered catered so that makes a difference in price. He still needs some cash every week on top for socialising (ha! he wishes! ) etc.

On top of that we are looking at forking out for 6 years as our son is studying Medicine, training to be a Doctor.

We also had equipment to buy, scrubs, stethoscope, other bits.

It's very expensive, there's no doubt about that. (He could have commuted into Edinburgh but absolutely fell in love with the University of St Andrews, and he is happy and flourishing there and loving the course so he did the right thing choosing there )

Edited to add - Our son does not have an en-suite room however he is right next door to the loo and opposite a shower. He is actually closer to the 'facilities' than he is when he is at home!
He only shares with 2 other young men and does not find it an issue of any kind, either crowding or any noise. Covid measures are strictly adhered to, plenty of roll and disinfectant always on hand to do a quick wipe round. You get used to it, he says

[Floridatilly]

Originally Posted by kathrynmc

My DD will only get the basic, so the remaining rent and living costs with be paid by us.

There is quite a big difference between the en-suite rooms at Lancaster and York

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Is Lancaster cheaper? If so I imagine it is because Lancaster is not a Russell group university.

[kathrynmc]

Originally Posted by Floridatilly

Is Lancaster cheaper? If so I imagine it is because Lancaster is not a Russell group university.

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Yes Lancaster is cheaper, that could be the reason, although the rooms at Chester University are quite pricey

[Minicooper]

Originally Posted by Glee Fan

This is us exactly as well, only times two 🤦🏼 I’m trying not to stress but I know we will have to cut our cloth accordingly.

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I gave 3 years between my 2 so I'm hoping DD will decide to wait to do her masters. 🤣

When you do the actual application for the maintenence loan you as the parents have to confirm your details (they email you) they do ask about your other children in education as I had to put in DS details but not sure if it includes other children at university. It meant DD got about £200 more so not a massive difference.

I would have hoped they would take into account twins/triplets etc. I'm a twin and I wasn't allowed to go to University as we could only get 1 grant so my sister went.