[martinix]

(Original post by Nathanielle)
Can you take out a loan?(I am no friend of loans, but if you are desperate to study there.) And I mean, you have to cover your living costs as well, and to cover your living cost by own work is hard, but can be done, e.g. with a year out.

Sorry for posting in such an old friend, but I'm really curious about this... - Is it really so easy to find a job, earn and save about £30,000 (that's how much you need to fund your 4 years of study at Cambridge according to the uni's website) in just 1 gap year? Because that's how I interpret what Nathanielle wrote. In my country even experienced engineers often don't earn that much...

[Nathanielle]

(Original post by martinix)
Sorry for posting in such an old friend, but I'm really curious about this... - It is really so easy to find a job, earn and save about £30,000 (that's how much you need to fund your 4 years of study at Cambridge according to the uni's website) in just 1 gap year? Because that's how I interpret what Nathanielle wrote. In my country even experienced engineers often don't earn that much...

Well, I have just written living costs and of course, that wouldn't mean, that you don't have to work during the whole three years e.g. in the vacation, which is the length of the majority undergraduate degrees at Cambridge. Thus when you are able to spend vacations at home with your family and are able to work during that time at a factory in a European country were the price level is very high. (Of course in countries with lower average living costs and thus also often lower average wages, this will be difficult.)
I mean living costs has to be paid by everybody, who has not the luck to get a maintenance loan, scholarship, having rich parents... And you find these students at Universities, so, yes, it is possible, even when this means not to attend any sort of extracurricular activity... Thus to have some money to fall onto some students work through their gap year. (I mean students normally have no family, are young enough to get reductions, etc. )

[martinix]

Yes, I understand this, but saving even only as much as about £7,000 in just 1 gap year is really hard... At my job by working 40 hours a week I can earn maximally £180 per month, which gives me £2160 in a whole year (and only assuming that I don't spend anything from what I earn and this is of course impossible).

So it really does surprise me, that students from e.g. Germany are able to save about £7k in just 2-3 months during their holidays. I know that Poles who work in German factories don't earn that much.

[Nathanielle]

(Original post by martinix)
Yes, I understand this, but saving even only as much as about £7,000 in just 1 gap year is really hard... At my job by working 40 hours a week I can earn maximally £180 per month, which gives me £2160 in a whole year (and only assuming that I don't spend anything from what I earn and this is of course impossible).

So it really does surprise me, that students from e.g. Germany are able to save about £7k in just 2-3 months during their holidays. I know that Poles who work in German factories don't earn that much.

As I said it also depends on the living costs, somebody in Norway or Germany has to earn more, otherwise you couldn't live on that. Of course you have to have luck to get one and take the hard shifts. (Btw earning 7000 in your holidays isn't possible with a normal job. But the idea behind is to work as much, that you can still work during term time and concentrate on your studies. When students wouldn't work during term time, we would have much less studetens all over Europe, so I don't know why you make the assumption, that you won't have to work during your studies, as this is -for me- luxury as long as you can't live with your parents. You also don't have to drink much when going out and can bring cheaper food from home.)

[martinix]

(Original post by Nathanielle)
When students wouldn't work during term time, we would have much less studetens all over Europe, so I don't know why you make the assumption, that you won't have to work during your studies, as this is -for me- luxury as long as you can't live with your parents. You also don't have to drink much when going out and can bring cheaper food from home.)

Exactly where did I make such an assumption?

All I'm trying to say is that to me it sounds almost impossible to be able to save enough money by just taking only 1 gap year + working during holidays between the terms (assuming that you don't receive any generous bursary of some sorrt)...

Also, there are some top unis which clearly discourage their students from working during the terms. And there's nothing strange in it since the courses are so demanding that it's hard to keep up with your studies even if you don't have to work after lectures or during weekends.

[Nathanielle]

(Original post by martinix)
Exactly where did I make such an assumption?

All I'm trying to say is that to me it sounds almost impossible to be able to save enough money by just taking only 1 gap year + working during holidays between the terms (assuming that you don't receive any generous bursary of some sorrt)...

Also, there are some top unis which clearly discourage their students from working during the terms. And there's nothing strange in it since the courses are so demanding that it's hard to keep up with your studies even if you don't have to work after lectures or during weekends.

Okay, sorry, that wasn't meant like this, but wether the cours is demanding or not, when you not have the money (either because you aren't poor enough or realized too late that working during school holidays would have been a good idea), then you simply have to work, even when some Professors are the opinion the students would have a choice. I also wouldn't say it depends too much on the University, it can be easier for someone very talented at a demanding university and someone under-mediocre, who has to work hard for every single bit. When a university is more demanding that just simply means, that the mediocre student there would be better elsewhere, but not that everyone isn't capable of working part-time. (That it is a handicap to have to work, not having the same time and possibilities to enjoy your freetime can be a huge disadvantage and most of these students would be able to get higher grades, when they concentrate just on studying, is another question, but sadly most of the concerned student have no choice, so they work...and it sucks of course to live on water and the cheaper stuff )

[Rainingshame]

(Original post by martinix)
Sorry for posting in such an old friend, but I'm really curious about this... - Is it really so easy to find a job, earn and save about £30,000 (that's how much you need to fund your 4 years of study at Cambridge according to the uni's website) in just 1 gap year? Because that's how I interpret what Nathanielle wrote. In my country even experienced engineers often don't earn that much...

For overseas isn't 30k EVERY year?

[Nathanielle]

(Original post by Rainingshame)
For overseas isn't 30k EVERY year?

We were speaking over living costs, so without tuition fees, just the costs you have to payfor living during your whole undergraduate year.

[zaidf]

(Original post by martinix)
Yes, I understand this, but saving even only as much as about £7,000 in just 1 gap year is really hard... At my job by working 40 hours a week I can earn maximally £180 per month, which gives me £2160 in a whole year (and only assuming that I don't spend anything from what I earn and this is of course impossible).

£180 per month, for 40 hours a week? That's around 160 hours per month then, which means your pay rate is around £1.13 an hour ... if you haven't made a typo in that sentence I'd recommend you quit your job and get one which pays a decent sum.

[martinix]

(Original post by zaidf)
£180 per month, for 40 hours a week? That's around 160 hours per month then, which means your pay rate is around £1.13 an hour ... if you haven't made a typo in that sentence I'd recommend you quit your job and get one which pays a decent sum.

Indeed, it was not a typo, that's exactly how much I'm payed for what I do (I work on the production line in Poland at a plastic manufacturing company) and I'd most happy to quit it, but actually it's not that simple. Only a year ago I worked at a supermaket, and my pay was £0.94 an hour.

You see, this is how much young people earn in Poland, a typical pay rate varies between £0,85/h and £1,7/h. Of course, the costs of living in Poland aren't as high as in England - you need only about £2,700 per year to be able to study in Poland.

Anyway, I hope you're now able to understand why I found what Nathanielle wrote very surprising. I would really want to study in the UK, but English unis accept our high school diplomas only for 3 years after graduation, and even working hard for 3 years wouldn't be enough for me to save enough money for my studies.

[Nathanielle]

The original thread starter said he was living in Austria, thus my answer was aimed towards that country.

Well, but when you have to wait three years, why not doing a degree in Poland (maybe with the opportunity to study abroad) and then afterwards you could aim for a paid PHD? It isn't easy, but more doable.

(But Warsaw is quite expensive, or?)

[martinix]

Have you lived in Austria?

To be honest I wasn't trying to say your advice wasn't good, I was just being curious and hoping that there are some more students from (preferably, as the salaries are similar) Central or Eastern Europe who somehow managed to fund their studies in the UK without any help from their parents. I hoped I might have missed something in my calculations, you know, that kind of thing

And yes, Warsaw is very expensive for people like me, who come from smaller Polish cities and towns.

[martinix]

(Original post by Rainingshame)
For overseas isn't 30k EVERY year?

I'm from Poland and EU students are eligible for the same government loans covering university fees as the native students. I believe that a few years ago, EU students were even eligible for the maintenance loans and other grants helping with the living costs but it changed once the Tories came to power (I may be wrong though, perhaps this was changed already during Brown's term)

[Nathanielle]

(Original post by martinix)
Have you lived in Australia?

To be honest I wasn't trying to say your advice wasn't good, I was just being curious and hoping that there are some more students from (preferably, as the salaries are similar) Central or Eastern Europe who somehow managed to fund their studies in the UK without any help from their parents. I hoped I might have missed something in my calculations, you know, that kind of thing

And yes, Warsaw is very expensive for people like me, who come from smaller Polish cities and towns.

Australia? Why?

[boba]

(Original post by martinix)
Indeed, it was not a typo, that's exactly how much I'm payed for what I do (I work on the production line in Poland at a plastic manufacturing company) and I'd most happy to quit it, but actually it's not that simple. Only a year ago I worked at a supermaket, and my pay was £0.94 an hour.

You see, this is how much young people earn in Poland, a typical pay rate varies between £0,85/h and £1,7/h. Of course, the costs of living in Poland aren't as high as in England - you need only about £2,700 per year to be able to study in Poland.

Anyway, I hope you're now able to understand why I found what Nathanielle wrote very surprising. I would really want to study in the UK, but English unis accept our high school diplomas only for 3 years after graduation, and even working hard for 3 years wouldn't be enough for me to save enough money for my studies.

even without this information what he wrote would of been "surprising" most people wouldn't be able to save enough to cover the living costs of university in one gap year even if they worked part time during term and worked as much as possible in the holidays as well.

However you still could study in the UK since poland is part of the EU you would be eligable for student finance which would include both a Tuition and maintenance loan. Then your savings would only be needed to top this up if you needed, plus you could get a part time job here during term time where the minimum wage is 4.98 for 18-20 year olds or 6.08 for 21+

edit: according to a poster above this is no longer true and you are only eligible for a tuition loan. You could still save as much as possible during a gap year (or two) then hopefully fine a job when you get here.

[martinix]

(Original post by Nathanielle)
Australia? Why?

I'm very sorry, I meant Austria, of course. This must have been one of those moments when my mind consciously thinks about one thing and subconsciously about taking photos of kangaroos...

(Original post by boba)
You could still save as much as possible during a gap year (or two) then hopefully fine a job when you get here.

Do you mean by working in the UK? Because I surely wouldn't be able to save enough money with my current pay rate of £1.13 an hour even in 2 years...

[Rainingshame]

(Original post by martinix)
I'm from Poland and EU students are eligible for the same government loans covering university fees as the native students. I believe that a few years ago, EU students were even eligible for the maintenance loans and other grants helping with the living costs but it changed once the Tories came to power (I may be wrong though, perhaps this was changed already during Brown's term)

Well at least you have it better than non-EU students, their fees are higher and i think they have college fees which we don't.

[boba]

(Original post by martinix)
I'm very sorry, I meant Austria, of course. This must have been one of those moments when my mind consciously thinks about one thing and subconsciously about taking photos of kangaroos...

Do you mean by working in the UK? Because I surely wouldn't be able to save enough money with my current pay rate of £1.13 an hour even in 2 years...

I meant save as much as possible to live off at firstwhile you look for a job in the uk. but to be honest yes coming here and working full time for a year or two would probably leave you with more savings than working at home even considering the fact that you will have to pay for living costs you probably wouldn't living with your parents. There is however unfortunately the chance that you wouldn't find a job.

[martinix]

Indeed. Hm... And what about loans from private banks? Don't they have some special offers for students? I know the terms wouldn't be as good as in the case of government loans, but still...

[Nathanielle]

(Original post by martinix)
Indeed. Hm... And what about loans from private banks? Don't they have some special offers for students? I know the terms wouldn't be as good as in the case of government loans, but still...

Have you searched in Poland already? I mean for funding opportunities for students who want to study abroad? Even when it exists it is usually too competive for most of us, but maybe there are chances you find some sources in your home country as well. (Maybe there exists a British-Polish association for post-cold war industrial ties which gives out some scholarships? Who knows...)

Concerning private loans: You have to be extremely careful, because not all conditions are really student friendly and exspecially when you aim for a "not as well paid" career it may be not the best idea. Anyway you could them also consider more as a backup option, e.g. covering only a sum, you will be able to repay safely or only during your thesis/third year etc. But some people haven't any problem to pay all by private loans, so...