How much money are you entering university with?

You might as well claim the tuition fee and maintenance loans in your future years though, it doesn't make sense to put unnecessary pressure on yourself to work during uni in order to pay for the costs. You won't get a loan like it again where you only pay back a small amount after earning over £21k so you might as well take it and put any money you don't need into an ISA or something. That way you'll have plenty of savings by the time you finish and won't have to worry about working enough hours to support yourself. Part time jobs that are flexible but give you enough hours are hard to come by, it wouldn't be sensible to pin all your hope on it to pay your fees and living costs.

its better in long term to not have had loans

its better in long term to not have had loans and could show initiative to employers

Is it?

Financially a student loan doesn't affect your credit rating, the only thing it affects is your income as when you start paying it back it will reduce the amount of funds entering your bank account, so if you're applying for a mortgage or something that is all that will be an issue if you're a low earner, so I can't see that being an issue. As for employers I doubt they really care where you got the funds for uni from as long as you worked hard and got a good grade!

its better in long term to not have had loans and could show initiative to employers

$6500 in loans, $4000 in savings and every penny of it will be wiped out by accommodation

absolute tosh... the vast majority of employers couldnt give a monkeys if you have debts least of all student debts... if youre bankrupt theyll start to care or appear to be nearing it otherwise it has nothing to do with their decision as to the best of my knowledge most companies dont do thorough credit checks on potential employees...?

get your parents to pay

the £50k debt is like a cloud hanging over your head.

the £50k debt is like a cloud hanging over your head.

i mean having a job alongside a degree and not applying for state handouts shows you can manage money well

ha i have better chances of finding a block of gold in oxford circus, theyve had enough of me leaching for near 20yrs...

I'll be going into uni with £30 in the bank to live on until my student finance comes through which may be up to a month late because as usual student finance England ballsed up. So I may be pretty screwed when it comes to paying my first accommodation instalment because my overdraft won't cover even half of it.

you did well to have $4000 in savings, must have worked hard. your parents should pay for your accommodation so then you don't have to worry during your degree about running out of money. shelter is a necessity. by not having to spend lots on accommodation you can add to your savings and this will help in long term again, so you'll less reliant on your parents then.

how expensive is your accommodation?

A cloud that is only present when you're earning 21k+, which then requires you to pay a tiny amount to the government. Must be one of those silver lining clouds.

A cloud that disappears after a certain amount of time if you don't pay it off, which you don't pay a penny towards until you're earning over £21,000. The repayments are quite low, much lower than if you were to take a loan from the bank anyhow. Pressuring yourself into a part-time job taking up time you should be spending doing coursework just to pay for your tuition fees is madness IMO, it is likely to have an impact on the quality of the OP's work and in the current economy these jobs are difficult to find and not the most stable.

a job may look good but they couldnt give a stuff about a student loan and its hardly a state hand out, note the term loan?