[Phenylethylamine_]

My student finance maintenance loan doesn't cover the accommodation standard let fees of £5673.00 ..I'm getting the £3875 (if memory serves me right) but I've been told by people that I'll have to fund the extra 2 grand or more myself. Either by parents funding it/bursaries etc. So, I presume all college accommodation fees are the same?

Is everyone funding the extra amount that's needed by themselves or are we eligible to a bursary that would cover the fee?

I tried calling student finance up today, their lines got all mixed up and then I was out all day, so didn't get a chance to call back, I'll call tomorrow.

Thanks.

[Skippeh]

Mine is similar but I have a bigger loan so not as bad, but I don't think there is much, seen stuff like hardship funds but I don't think they are applicable. But I must say it is irritating trying to get a fair amount of money together, without income!

[purple-girl]

yeah, I'm getting about £1000 more than that in loan and another £600-ish in grant. College is a rip off but there's nothing we can do about it. I'm ok as I spend a lot less than my loan and have some cash built up from summer work.

If your household income is low enough, which I assume it isn't given you're not getting any grant or loan based on income (actually your loan is less than the part of mine that isn't based on income...) you're eligible for a Durham grant but otherwise it's assumed that either your parents will support you or you'll work over summer to pay the rest.

Don't worry - when you live out rent can be ridiculously cheap here!

[Phenylethylamine_]

(Original post by purple-girl)
yeah, I'm getting about £1000 more than that in loan and another £600-ish in grant. College is a rip off but there's nothing we can do about it. I'm ok as I spend a lot less than my loan and have some cash built up from summer work.

If your household income is low enough, which I assume it isn't given you're not getting any grant or loan based on income (actually your loan is less than the part of mine that isn't based on income...) you're eligible for a Durham grant but otherwise it's assumed that either your parents will support you or you'll work over summer to pay the rest.

Don't worry - when you live out rent can be ridiculously cheap here!

Oh no I am! Sorry, I missed out key bits of information! This is what I'm getting (because my household income is low enough)

Type Amount requested Amount you're entitled to
Maintenance Loan £3,875.00
Tuition Fee Loan £9,000.00
HE Maintenance Grant £3,250.00

I just though that the maintenance grant goes towards your living costs that's why I thought maintenance loan is the one to go to pay for your accommodation.

So, can my maintenance grant also be used to pay for the accommodation?

Thanks for your help!

Edit: That would leave me with £1449 for living costs for the year..hmm I hope that's enough Otherwise I'm probably going to have to get a part time job in Durham but then I don't know if they'll let go home (London) in the christmas/easter holidays :/

[Phenylethylamine_]

(Original post by Skippeh)
Mine is similar but I have a bigger loan so not as bad, but I don't think there is much, seen stuff like hardship funds but I don't think they are applicable. But I must say it is irritating trying to get a fair amount of money together, without income!

Sorry, I'm getting £3875 for maintenance loan and £3250 for maintenance grant! I missed out the key bits of information!

[Phenylethylamine_]

Found this on the Durham website:

Promise of Support - Package One: Family incomes below £25,000
If you come from a household that has an Income below £25,000, you will automatically get a support package worth £3,000 a year, either in cash or as money off your college living expenses (the National Scholarship Programme shall be administered through this Promise of Support package).

I'm just going to contact them regarding this ^

[undergradstudent]

(Original post by Phenylethylamine_)
Found this on the Durham website:

Promise of Support - Package One: Family incomes below £25,000
If you come from a household that has an Income below £25,000, you will automatically get a support package worth £3,000 a year, either in cash or as money off your college living expenses (the National Scholarship Programme shall be administered through this Promise of Support package).

I'm just going to contact them regarding this ^

You get the student finance maintenance loan and grant as cash in your bank account so you can do what you like with it!

(But the idea is that you spend it on accommodation and living).

Remember you get 3 meals a day, 7 days a week included in the college fee so you can use all your leftover £1450 to spend on living (so going out, books for your course, clothes, toiletries, phone bill, etc...).

If your income is below £25,000 then you'll get the £3,000 a year grant definitely.

So you'll have £4450 to spend on living costs... which is £148 per term time week or £85/week if you divide by the full 52 weeks. That's more than anyone I know has to live from, you can easily get by spending £20 - £30 (£40 if you go out a lot and buy drinks in clubs) per term time week when you're in a catered college.

So you'll have loads of money!

[purple-girl]

Ok, you'll get your loan and grant into your bank account at the same time (you'll have been told amounts and dates I guess) so in real terms they're basically combined, you'll just have to pay some of it back once you graduate and start earning £21K+. As the above post says, that'll leave you with £20-30 a week on top of accomodation costs, which is enough to live on unless you're the type that likes to go out all the time. It'll mostly get spent on social activities (nights out, societies) and snacks in my experience given you get 3 meals a day in college so won't need to pay for that or bills.

To put things into perspective, living out I spend about £20 a week on food or bills which goes into a "house pot". Last year I spent about the same but we basically did a big shop every other week and between 3 of us spent around £60 each time (so roughly £10 a week each) and then some money on bills so it worked out around the same. I rarely spend more than around £20 a week on other stuff.

[Phenylethylamine_]

Ok thanks a lot guys!! That makes sense I'm not worried anymore! Tbh, I'm not the type to go out usually, I'd rather go to societies/do sports etc

[Phenylethylamine_]

(Original post by undergradstudent)
You get the student finance maintenance loan and grant as cash in your bank account so you can do what you like with it!

(But the idea is that you spend it on accommodation and living).

Remember you get 3 meals a day, 7 days a week included in the college fee so you can use all your leftover £1450 to spend on living (so going out, books for your course, clothes, toiletries, phone bill, etc...).

If your income is below £25,000 then you'll get the £3,000 a year grant definitely.

So you'll have £4450 to spend on living costs... which is £148 per term time week or £85/week if you divide by the full 52 weeks. That's more than anyone I know has to live from, you can easily get by spending £20 - £30 (£40 if you go out a lot and buy drinks in clubs) per term time week when you're in a catered college.

So you'll have loads of money!

Ahh can't +ve rep you, but thanks

[canŵio]

haha...

hall fees: £5673.
maintenance loan: £3550.
no grant as my parents haven't sent in the stuff they needed to yet, despite me applying in january. i'm only eligible for about £100 grant anyway.

fallout: £2123. oh yay.

[purple-girl]

For people complaining about college fees just remember that you won't *have* to spend much more than that while you're living in and in Durham it's possible to live out very very cheaply. Yes, rents are going up but it's still possible to rent a house for £50/week even if it's a bit further from town and lectures and not a particularly nice house. If necessary just find some sort of paid work for this summer and go into your overdraft slightly then make up for it in later years by finding a cheap house for the remainder of your degree. Just be glad you're not in a place where you'd struggle to find a house to rent for <£100/week...

[undergradstudent]

(Original post by canŵio)
haha...

hall fees: £5673.
maintenance loan: £3550.
no grant as my parents haven't sent in the stuff they needed to yet, despite me applying in january. i'm only eligible for about £100 grant anyway.

fallout: £2123. oh yay.

If you only get a £100 grant you'll get a much bigger maintenance loan, you won't just get £3550. Don't worry about sending forms later either, you'll still the get the money and you don't have to pay your college fees until about November anyway (and you can get an extension if you need to).

Also you get a £1000 grant from Durham if your parents earn under £42,600. If you get a sf grant your parents must earn under that.

So you should be getting about £5000 from the government + £1000 from Durham = at least £6,000. Sorted.

[canŵio]

(Original post by undergradstudent)
If you only get a £100 grant you'll get a much bigger maintenance loan, you won't just get £3550. Don't worry about sending forms later either, you'll still the get the money and you don't have to pay your college fees until about November anyway (and you can get an extension if you need to).

Also you get a £1000 grant from Durham if your parents earn under £42,600. If you get a sf grant your parents must earn under that.

So you should be getting about £5000 from the government + £1000 from Durham = at least £6,000. Sorted.

I've just got my letter from sf which tells me i get £3575 (oops not £3550 but pretty much), and i don't think i'm eligible for a durham grant, my parents earn about £50,000 combined. £5500 is the maximum.
so, it really is £3575! hopefully when my parents send their stuff in they'll update it because at the moment i'm just getting the minimum, not income based.
but then i've also got a £1000 or so overdraft which can be for emergencies! i'm lucky that i've got a job and my parents and brother are willing to help me in my first year. by october i'll have enough to pay my hall fees, and then i'll keep the £3575 and overdraft to help me out in second year! the fees are mental though, if my family weren't willing to help me, i wouldn't be going...

[undergradstudent]

(Original post by canŵio)
I've just got my letter from sf which tells me i get £3575 (oops not £3550 but pretty much), and i don't think i'm eligible for a durham grant, my parents earn about £50,000 combined. £5500 is the maximum.
so, it really is £3575! hopefully when my parents send their stuff in they'll update it because at the moment i'm just getting the minimum, not income based.
but then i've also got a £1000 or so overdraft which can be for emergencies! i'm lucky that i've got a job and my parents and brother are willing to help me in my first year. by october i'll have enough to pay my hall fees, and then i'll keep the £3575 and overdraft to help me out in second year! the fees are mental though, if my family weren't willing to help me, i wouldn't be going...

The government expect your parents to help you and give you money out if they earn more than about £40,000 so that's why they give you less money.

But if they earn £50,000 then you'll get a bit more than £3500 loan - if you go on the student finance website there's a calculator which will tell you exactly how much you will get.

The college fees aren't loads much more than average (but they definitely are higher than average and it's stupid that there's no cheap option) - I think most unis' catered fees are £4,000 - £6,000 (more at some unis but that's just ridiculous) and at least you get 3 meals a day, whereas in many unis you just get 2 meals a day on weekdays.

[purple-girl]

(Original post by undergradstudent)
If you only get a £100 grant you'll get a much bigger maintenance loan, you won't just get £3550. Don't worry about sending forms later either, you'll still the get the money and you don't have to pay your college fees until about November anyway (and you can get an extension if you need to).

Also you get a £1000 grant from Durham if your parents earn under £42,600. If you get a sf grant your parents must earn under that.

So you should be getting about £5000 from the government + £1000 from Durham = at least £6,000. Sorted.

Ooo, I didn't know about the £1000 grant - is that new this year? Do you know if it comes through automatically like the £3000 one apparently does cos I think I'm eligible for this one (based on my SF grant) but have never received it...

[undergradstudent]

(Original post by purple-girl)
Ooo, I didn't know about the £1000 grant - is that new this year? Do you know if it comes through automatically like the £3000 one apparently does cos I think I'm eligible for this one (based on my SF grant) but have never received it...

It's new for 2012 like the £3000 one is but only for people who start their degree in 2012 or later so if you're currently at Durham you won't get it

[purple-girl]

(Original post by undergradstudent)
It's new for 2012 like the £3000 one is but only for people who start their degree in 2012 or later so if you're currently at Durham you won't get it

Ah well, nevermind! I can cope without anyway...