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Is Student Accomodation affordable?

I am the parent of a Year 14 Student. He hopes to enter our local university in Autumn 2024 in Belfast. He wants to do the ''whole student'' thing and if he gets in, he has said he wants to live in Student accommodation - as opposed to home. I have tried explaining to him it will be a hell of a lot cheaper staying at home and commuting in for university - but hes accused me of being controlling....(sigh....)
I understand he needs his own space but will the Maintenance loan be enough to sustain him living from home? I just dont want him to get even more into debt if he can help it.
Has anybody else been in a similar situation? Thanks in advance.

(edited 7 months ago)

Reply 1

Bradley1111

Hi.

One thing to keep in mind with the maintenance loan is that it isn't a debt. With your student loan you will get it paid to you and technically you don't ever have to pay it back until you earn over £25000 a year and when you do you only have to pay back a small amount of your income. And if you go back to earning under £25000 a year you don't have to pay it again.

Another thing to keep in mind is that your sons maintenance loan will vary depending on many factors (you can estimate it with this website https://www.gov.uk/student-finance-calculator).
But there a lot of things you can do to prepare for university costs, some being your son getting a part time job, applying for bursaries given out by the university, or applying for a student account with your bank.
All three are good to prepare for the costs of university as although it can be quite high that shouldn't stop your son from going to university.

I hope this helped, let me know if you need more help.

Reply 2

Jennybaby

I thought that it was only the tuition fee loan that didnt need to be paid back if earning under a certain amount? I am confused as I always thought maintenance loans were always repayable

Reply 3

Bradley1111

Original post by Jennybaby

I thought that it was only the tuition fee loan that didnt need to be paid back if earning under a certain amount? I am confused as I always thought maintenance loans were always repayable