HE funding advice for parents and practitioners

If you're a parent of a student or you work with students and you have a question about finance, this webchat is just for you!

Sue works as a Student Recruitment Manager (Funding Advice) at the University of Bath. She is responsible for delivering funding advice to prospective students, parents, teachers and advisors. She spends a lot of time giving talks in schools, and also delivers information, advice and guidance on campus to school groups and during Open Days.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 1

Straydweller

My son left school at 18 and by the time he starts undergraduate degree sept, he will have earned £35,000 in verifiable taxable income over the required 3 years.

He has completed his online application but now I have an email asking for my income details .

I thought that as he has supported himself for 3 years (lives at home but pays £300 plus a month + extras) he would be a self sufficient student, and that I would not have to fill in my income details . But the application process does not seem to allow him to claim finance as a self sufficient student.

And, If I do have to submit my income details , do I have to register separately(from my son) and submit them or is there a facility on sons application to include my income details in his application?

Reply 2

Osol

3

My second son is hoping to go to uni this year.....my eldest has just started. He lives at home and commutes. He is managing his money well. However my youngest will want to live onsite...i have done the estimate with student finance and what he will get will not even cover his accommodation.....am i missing something? I am getting rather worried as we certainly dont have spare £s to fund his living expenses. How does everyone do it??????

Reply 3

Unistudentsmum

I'm a mum with a son applying for Uni. I'm not sure whether the Maintenance Loan is capped at the level dependent on my income or if he/I can apply for living costs to the maximum level. I know it has to be paid back but not sure if there is a limit to how much can be borrowed. Any ideas welcomed! Thanks and good luck with A'levels!

Reply 4

anniebee1

Hi, my son is at university and gets a £1000 bursary from a bank. He will do a paid internship during the summer holidays with the bank as part of his bursary package. Does the internship income count towards our assessable household income. I'm a single parent, working and paying to put him through uni and this could put us in a different income bracket, penalising us financially all for the sake of a few hundred pounds. Thanks

Reply 5

Steven Lawrence

Original post by Unistudentsmum

I'm a mum with a son applying for Uni. I'm not sure whether the Maintenance Loan is capped at the level dependent on my income or if he/I can apply for living costs to the maximum level. I know it has to be paid back but not sure if there is a limit to how much can be borrowed. Any ideas welcomed! Thanks and good luck with A'levels!

Hi,

Thanks for your question.

The amount of Maintenance Loan available is dependent on household income, although all students will be able to apply for at least £3,821

In order to find our how much your son would receive you can use the Student Finance calculator available on Gov.uk

You can also see a table with the various thresholds on UCAS.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

Steve

Reply 6

Sue Garrett

Original post by anniebee1

Hi, my son is at university and gets a £1000 bursary from a bank. He will do a paid internship during the summer holidays with the bank as part of his bursary package. Does the internship income count towards our assessable household income. I'm a single parent, working and paying to put him through uni and this could put us in a different income bracket, penalising us financially all for the sake of a few hundred pounds. Thanks

Hi Annibee

The only income that would count for your son is what is called 'taxable unearned income'.Taxable unearned income is any income you receive from the following sources:
Bank or building society gross interest
Property, lettings or rent
Dividends or investments
Trusts or sponsorships
Any other taxable payment received for attending the course

NOT income from employment. I would also imagine that the bursary he gets is not taxable either.

I hope this helps

Best wishes
Sue

Reply 7

Sue Garrett

Original post by Straydweller

My son left school at 18 and by the time he starts undergraduate degree sept, he will have earned £35,000 in verifiable taxable income over the required 3 years.

He has completed his online application but now I have an email asking for my income details .

I thought that as he has supported himself for 3 years (lives at home but pays £300 plus a month + extras) he would be a self sufficient student, and that I would not have to fill in my income details . But the application process does not seem to allow him to claim finance as a self sufficient student.

And, If I do have to submit my income details , do I have to register separately(from my son) and submit them or is there a facility on sons application to include my income details in his application?

Hi
For your son to meet the requirements to be assessed as an independent student, he has to have been fully self supporting for the three years up to the September 1st prior to starting his degree.
If this is this case, and he has been paying rent to you and supporting himself from his earnings , your income details should not be needed as part of the assessment. You should not need to register separately.

I would recommended that your son contact the student loans awarding agency, which will be Student Finance England, if you live in England, for them to clarify to you what evidence you and your son need to provide. This could include his p60 or payslips and evidence of how much rent he pays to you, plus contributions to other household costs. They may want to see his bank statements to evidence payments towards household costs.

You will find contact details here
https://www.gov.uk/contact-student-finance-england

I hope this helps

Best wishes
Sue

Reply 8

Sue Garrett

Original post by Osol

My second son is hoping to go to uni this year.....my eldest has just started. He lives at home and commutes. He is managing his money well. However my youngest will want to live onsite...i have done the estimate with student finance and what he will get will not even cover his accommodation.....am i missing something? I am getting rather worried as we certainly dont have spare £s to fund his living expenses. How does everyone do it??????

Hi
I do sympathise with you as I have twin daughters who are both at university at the same time, and this will be an expensive time for you as a family. The assessment for my daughters resulted in a slightly higher level of support for each than we expected, due to both studying at the same time, but like you this was not even sufficient to cover the rent.
Many students where both parents work will find, that although the fee loan covers full tuition fees, the income assessed maintenance loan may be as low as £3821 per year, whereas a typical student budget can be between £7000-9000 per year.
How can you plug that gap? Many students manage with a combination of vacation earnings, and part-time earnings as a student ambassador. Your son's university of choice may also have scholarships that he can apply for, so do check if he is eligible.
Choosing the cheapest accommodation is the easiest way to keep the budget down, but there are lots of other budgeting tips on websites like
http://www.savethestudent.org/

UCAS also have a budget planner at
https://www.ucas.com/ucas/undergraduate/finance-and-support/budget-calculator

I hope this helps you plan around this issue.
Best wishes
Sue

Thanks Sue and Steven!

If you have any further questions, remember we have live webchats all week or check out our student finance information and resources here on The Student Room.

HE funding advice for parents and practitioners

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