Student Finance...confused!

After searching the internet etc I am confused about student finance. I know you can get a loan to cover the tuition fees but what I'm wondering about is the maintenance loans and grants. Are these 2 different things or not? I live with my boyfriend in a rented property and am hoping to start uni soon which will obviously mean giving up full time work. How much and how often do you recieve the maintenance loan and is a grant another loan all together? I need to get all this straight to know I will be able to afford uni which I'm hoping I am! Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me. xxxx

IThe grant and loan are separate, but a certain amount of the grant you get replaces some of the loan to make the amount you pay back less. They are dependent on your income, and you have to have your income assessed to get the grant. You can get 72% of the loan without income assessment.

Unless you are earning 20 or 30k it shouldnt make much difference to you anyway.

use the calculator and fill in and edit all the details http://www.direct.gov.uk/studentfinancecalculator

hey thanks for replying, at the moment, before i start uni, i am working full time so will they go on that? (only £12k anyway!) when i do start i will be working an absolute maximum of 16-20 hours per work as i think i will need to due to renting a property. Do I just apply through directgov for this? Also, do you know if applying for a student bank account via halifax for example includes a credit check? As my credit rating is horrendous lol. Thanks again for replying xxx

hey thanks for replying, at the moment, before i start uni, i am working full time so will they go on that? (only £12k anyway!) when i do start i will be working an absolute maximum of 16-20 hours per work as i think i will need to due to renting a property. Do I just apply through directgov for this? Also, do you know if applying for a student bank account via halifax for example includes a credit check? As my credit rating is horrendous lol. Thanks again for replying xxx

Mine with Barclays only included a credit check because I applied for an overdraft, so only maybe. Call and ask/FAQs on website if you're worried about that.
.

Unfortunately all the banks credit check for any current account now - supposedly because they have the option to have an overdraft and also have a cheque book etc but I imagine the real reason is just greed. Some banks even credit check for basic accounts now, so you can imagine how likely the banking sector is to give current accounts away.

Oh ok - maybe I just didn't need a credit check for my normal student account without overdraft because I'd been with my bank for a couple of years already? Because I set up all my student banking (took well over an hour....) on friday, and I know we didn't get to the credit check bit until it was all set up and my money was in there and we were sorting out the overdraft.

I imagine if you already had an account, it would have already have been a current account so there was no need to credit check to convert it into a student account (just another type of current account) without the overdraft. The overdraft application is what would have then been checked for.

Hi, how old are you? If you're under 25 unfortunately student finance will go off your parents income, not yours. So it doesn't matter how much you or your boyfriend earn, it's still your parent's income that matters. I was in this situation myself this time last year, and no amount of letters telling them that I no longer speak to my parents and certainly won't be getting any money from them helped.

Although if you're under 25 but have supported yourself for at least 3 years (either through work or benefits) then you are classed as an independent student.

don't get a bad credit rating in the first place

hammer, nail, head.

Hi, how old are you? If you're under 25 unfortunately student finance will go off your parents income, not yours. So it doesn't matter how much you or your boyfriend earn, it's still your parent's income that matters. I was in this situation myself this time last year, and no amount of letters telling them that I no longer speak to my parents and certainly won't be getting any money from them helped.

Hi I'm 23. Will they still go off my parents income even though I don't live there anymore? If thats the case what will my parents have to do, will they need to prove this? xxxx

Hi I'm 23. Will they still go off my parents income even though I don't live there anymore? If thats the case what will my parents have to do, will they need to prove this? xxxx

Your parents will need to fill in a PFF2 form each.
downloadable here
http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg/groups/dg_digitalassets/@dg/@en/documents/digitalasset/dg_194354.pdf