Upsetting changes in Durham Grant Scheme

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Reply 60

undergradstudent

Original post by Ja€k

So does anyone know if you HAVE to live inside college for your final year to get the £3,000 grant for undergraduates?
If anyone has had to go back to the college and could tell me how it wasd for them, I'd be most grateful!
:smile:

It's a new rule so unfortunately nobody has any experience of it yet. But unfortunately it looks like you will have to live back in college (or at least apply to, if you apply and your college is oversubscribed then there is usually a ballot system), unless you have extenuating circumstances (e.g. mature student with a family). However with the way college prices are going, if you can get a cheap house and forgo the £3,000 you may not lose too much money.

(College rent for 38 weeks = about £5,500 and will probably increase again)

It's possible to get a house in Gilesgate for £65pp including bills (for 52 weeks) so £3,380 + food. If you spend £20 per week on food over 30 term time weeks (and go home in the holidays) that's £3,980 in total.

So it would only be £3,980 as opposed to £2,500 (after the grant deduction), not as big a difference as you would think.

If you need to live in Durham over the summer then it costs a lot (about £100 per week) to rent a room in college self-catered so it'd probably be cheaper to live out in a house.

If you're eligible for the £3000 grant then you'll be getting over £7,000 a year from the government so that will definitely cover you living out in a cheap (or even average £80/week) house without needing to go into your overdraft and you will be fine without the extra Durham grant. Of course, you can save some of the grant from your first and second years and use it in your third year - it will still average out at £2,000 per year which is a huge grant and more than the majority of other universities are giving.

EDIT - In some colleges (Castle, John's, Grey, Hatfield, etc) a lot of finalists live in, whereas in others (Cuth's, Hild-Bede) very few seem to. If you haven't applied yet you might want to take that into consideration, although hopefully not as nobody should have to choose their college based on whether people live in or not, rather than whether they like the atmosphere/buildings/sports teams etc.

(edited 11 years ago)

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Reply 61

Ja€k

Original post by undergradstudent

If you're eligible for the £3000 grant then you'll be getting over £7,000 a year from the government so that will definitely cover you living out in a cheap (or even average £80/week) house without needing to go into your overdraft and you will be fine without the extra Durham grant. Of course, you can save some of the grant from your first and second years and use it in your third year - it will still average out at £2,000 per year which is a huge grant and more than the majority of other universities are giving.
.

Ahh thankyou :smile:

Can I just be very dim for a second?
Is the Durham grant scheme different from the National Scholarship Scheme, because without the £3000, wouldn't the maximum I could get be £5500 not £7000?
Sorry if that's really stupid :smile:

Reply 62

undergradstudent

Original post by Ja€k

Ahh thankyou :smile:

That's not a stupid question at all!
There are 3 types of funding:

1. Government (student finance) loan. If your household income is under £25,000 then you will get a repayable loan of £3,875

2. Government (student finance) grant. £3,250 non-repayable grant.

3. University grant/bursary. Durham calls this the Durham Grant. The National Scholarship Scheme money is given to universities to give out as grants or as fee waivers. Durham have chosen to do this as money off accommodation costs and cash grants.

£3,000 per year if you live in college for your first and final year (first year only if you study in Stockton).

So you would get £3,875 + £3,250 + £3,000 per year = £10,125. Only £3,875 of that is repayable.

Reply 63

undergradstudent

Original post by Ja€k

Ahh thankyou :smile:

Reply 64

Ja€k

Original post by undergradstudent

....

Ahh thankyou! I was thinking that the scholarship was money the government was making universities give in bursaries, not that it was straight from the government AND there are additional grants from the unis!
:smile:

Reply 65

evening sunrise

Original post by Ja€k

The maximum maintenance loan outside of London is 5500 p.a. There is also a maintenance grant, whose maximum value is 3250p.a , but that is deducted from your loan so whilst the amount your borrow is less the total paid to you remains the same.

There are other grants, from the government, but they apply in special circumstances....like you have kids of your own...

Reply 66

astro67

Original post by evening sunrise

That's not quite true - there is a minimum loan of £3875 which you get even if you're getting the maximum grant of £3250 so it's possible to get up to £7125. There is a range of household incomes where increasing income increases the loan at the expense of the grant with the total maintenance support remaining constant but it doesn't extend to the lowest household incomes.