Anyone else find the grants unfair?

That is the max grant. So some people must do.

Do you know how much it would cost the state to give every student the maximum maintenace grant?

I think what annoys most people is that a lot of parents are only willing to provide absolutely minimal help, say £100 over the whole year, IF that.
Now, how is it fair that these students get approx £3k less than someone else who's pareents simply can't afford to give them more then £100? The situations are more or less the same and you're just giving someone money for being poor, essentially.

The other argument goes that you could have a two-parent, single student family who don't earn much but live modestly or have inherited a house, and have more disposable income to give the student. Take another family who earn more but have a mortgage to pay off, plus, say, three or four kids. The student doesn't get a grant because their parents earn over the limit, but they can't afford to give the student any money.
Who deserves/needs it more in that case?

Ideally it should be done on a case-by-case basis, but that obviously takes too much time and money. But otherwise you end up with the 'squeezed middle' where poor people are fine because of grants, and the rich are fine because of, well, being rich and daddy paying everything for his darling children, but the ones in the middle are the hardest hit because they won't have enough money to give their kids much (in most cases) and they're getting a minimal, if anything, grant.

Exactly why the whole idea is bad. They should give out more loads so everyone has the chance to be more independent.

The max grant for the year, yes.

I'm going to be completely unbiased here. I'm actually entitled to a grant yet I still think the system is a bit unfair if it assumes those with parents in good jobs will give them financial help. Yes, there are people from unemployed/low income families who deserve the help, just as much as there are people with rich parents who won't get any help at all. Not everyone's parents assist them financially, they leave them to get on with it. So yes, I think it is unfair in that sense.

But why should the state give you money when your parents are capable of giving you the money?

If a loan was introduced the majority of students from lower income families would be taking out the loan, whilst a lot of students from high income families would just take the money from their parents and avoid the debt and interest.

But why should the state give you money when your parents are capable of giving you the money?

If a loan was introduced the majority of students from lower income families would be taking out the loan, whilst a lot of students from high income families would just take the money from their parents and avoid the debt and interest.

Most parents are only willing to give their kids £100 at the most to go towards uni. I know people from well-off families who aren't being given any help at all, and if they are, they are given say a couple of hundred at the very most. That is minimal compared to the grants. And I actually am entitled to a grant, so I am not at all biased. I still think it's a bit unfair.

Most parents are only willing to give their kids £100 at the most to go towards uni. I know people from well-off families who aren't being given any help at all, and if they are, they are given say a couple of hundred at the very most. That is minimal compared to the grants. And I actually am entitled to a grant, so I am not at all biased. I still think it's a bit unfair.

I don't believe I ever said that my parents are able to help me out, and even if they could, it's my life why should they have to give me money when the government gives it away to other people?

Also 3k a month is a ****ing load of money! I'd NEVER expect or even want my parents to give me that much a month, so why are poorer students given that?

The whole system is silly... grrr!

I also know people from well off families (I go to a private school), and we were discussing financing university and most if not all students said their parents are willing to give them however much they need (including rent).

Where on earth are you getting 3K a month from? It's a tiny minority of people who get maxed out grants/loans and I'm pretty sure they don't get anything even near amounting to that. The maximum grant you can get is £3,250, and the maximum loan is £5,500 (assuming you're not in London). Even together that is nowhere even near 3K a month. I believe they also deduct a certain amount from your loan if you get full grant. So yeah, your parents aren't expected to give you that much at all.

They're not giving us money, they are LOANING it. Meaning that they will get it back!!

For the most part, grants are a force for good, they exist to help intelligent working class people utilize their intellect via university, it a necessity for social mobility. There will of course be cases where the wrong people get it, or the right people fail to get it, but these flaws make up the minority of cases.

Course I get a full grant and bursery, so I'm biased. But without it I could be stuck in council estates forever.

So students from well off backgrounds should be able to have the option of taking out a loan, borrowing money from parents at no interest or just being given the money free of charge from their parents.

Whilst the student from less well off backgrounds only have the option of taking out a loan with interest and large debt for a lot of their lifetime.

Seems very fair to me.

Exactly, it's ****ing stupid. I'm 18, I've finished school and college, and I'm not living at home (being at uni), why should my parents salary have any effect on how much I get! Given that I'm a moved out adult, why would there be any expectation that they would fund me?