Final Year Student, less money?

I just received my letter from student finance about next years loan. I will be starting my final year of my degree, and apparently that means I get less loan than before.
Why?
I wasn't told about this before.

If anyone can help me understand or work this out, it would be appreciated. I barely have enough to live off as it is.

Reply 1

flipshot

It is because they don't take into account the summer holiday. As you are no longer considered a student after you have your last exam so you are expected to be working full time or you can claim job seekers which you would not have been able to do in previous years whilst at uni.

Reply 2

Emaemmaemily

They don't give me money for the summer holiday anyway :/ They never do.

Reply 3

GodspeedGehenna

Original post by Emaemmaemily

They don't give me money for the summer holiday anyway :/ They never do.

Yes they do. That's why your Y1 and Y2 loans are larger.

You graduate during the summer, therefore you're a student for a shorter period in your final year and you're expected to get a job.

Reply 4

Emaemmaemily

Original post by GodspeedGehenna

Yes they do. That's why your Y1 and Y2 loans are larger.

You graduate during the summer, therefore you're a student for a shorter period in your final year and you're expected to get a job.

They're still giving me loan at the same intervals though... Surely they'd cut out the one in May or something if that's supposed to be for the summer. (But then, I fail to see how anyone could live off £1000 for over 3 months).
They aren't taking away that payment, they're just making each one smaller... So I have less to live off throughout the year.

If the intention is to not pay me for the summer, they've done it all wrong.

Reply 5

GodspeedGehenna

Original post by Emaemmaemily

By whatever means they have done it, the intent is to pay you less as you are a student for a shorter period in your final year. They don't need to cover you for summer.

Reply 6

theronkinator

What? Where is this listed? Houses are a 1 year contract, so you need the money for a year like all the other times.

Anyone got a source.

Reply 7

GodspeedGehenna

Original post by theronkinator

What? Where is this listed? Houses are a 1 year contract, so you need the money for a year like all the other times.

Well, you need the money, yes, but after graduating you are no longer a student. Subsequently, your rent needs are no longer the responsibility of the SLC and you're expected to get a job. There is no reason for them to cover you until the start of the next academic year (as they do in Y1 & Y2) because you're not a student any more.

Reply 8

theronkinator

They're not covering me, I have to pay it back, and it's not like we have a choice.

Reply 9

Emaemmaemily

Original post by GodspeedGehenna

By whatever means they have done it, the intent is to pay you less as you are a student for a shorter period in your final year. They don't need to cover you for summer.

Original post by theronkinator

What? Where is this listed? Houses are a 1 year contract, so you need the money for a year like all the other times.

Anyone got a source.

I don't have a source, but that's what it said on my letter from Student finance, and I'm guessing it'll say the same on yours. It's ridiculous.

Reply 10

flipshot

Original post by theronkinator

What? Where is this listed? Houses are a 1 year contract, so you need the money for a year like all the other times.

Anyone got a source.

Its all on the website if you look: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/UniversityAndHigherEducation/StudentFinance/Applyingforthefirsttime/DG_171542

If you look on that page you will see there are two tables listed, with a separate one with lower amounts for students in the final year.

Reply 11

jelly1000

Original post by Emaemmaemily

Well they clearly are idiots... But I already knew this.
I just wish they'd do it in a way that actually made sense... Paying me less in September just means I'll struggle even more to live, it doesn't affect the summer.
Grr

I don't have a source, but that's what it said on my letter from Student finance, and I'm guessing it'll say the same on yours. It's ridiculous.

Your not meant to rely on your student loan as your only source of income anyway. I know some people dont have many other options though.

Reply 12

Emaemmaemily

Original post by jelly1000

Your not meant to rely on your student loan as your only source of income anyway. I know some people dont have many other options though.

I don't have any other option... I've had jobs in the past but it's not really possible to get one at the moment.

The whole POINT is that we are given a loan so that we can live without wasting too much time on a job, because that would detract from our studies. You're told not to work more than 12 hours a week... This gives you hardly any money as it is. And there's the point that it's near impossible to get a job at the moment.

It's not like they're supporting me... It's a loan, I'm paying every penny back, and a little extra. I struggle to live on the money I have as it is, so it's ridiculous for them to mess it up this way.

Grrr. Student finance get everything wrong.

Reply 13

xoxAngel_Kxox

All of the house contracts around our uni run from July-July.. so you'd be out of the house before the summer holiday anyway if this is the case. None of my friend's houses run from Sept-Sept so the slightly less loan isn't a problem to rent- just a problem that they don't have as much to fritter away on absolute crap which is what's happened for most of the past 2 years haha x

Oh, and where you say "Student Finance get everything wrong".. would you be able to go to uni at all if it wasn't for them and their loan? I very much doubt it, so just accept the fact that they don't have to pay for you to bum around for another few months after you graduate.

Sorry if this sounds harsh but I think you need to listen to yourself.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 14

Emaemmaemily

Original post by Gemma :)!

You clearly haven't read it then.
If they gave me no money from the moment I graduated, but gave me the same while I was there (in September and so on), then I wouldn't complain.
But, I struggle to live on what I do already, and to get a couple hundred pounds less in September will make things even more difficult for me.

They DO get everything wrong. Claiming to have lost documents, and then miraculously finding them; taking the ENTIRE year to give my friend their loan, when there was nothing wrong with her application.

Please don't defend them. There should be loans, that much is right, and it's good there is loans... But their system and the way they run things is ridiculous.

I'm not moaning about not getting money after graduation, but they aren't doing it this way. I AM getting money after I graduate, but just less in every installment, making living even more hard considering the cost of living in general has gone up.

Reply 15

Emaemmaemily

Original post by f00ddude

what the actual ****?!?!?!
thats ridiculous the way theve done that. acording to that ill be expected to live off 2.6k for a year, including 3.4ks rent
and i doubt as a student ill be able to earn enough to make up the rest

Exactly. I've struggled to get another job since I had to leave my other one... People don't want students a lot of the time. I have no idea how I'll manage to be honest, seeing as I only get basic loan.
:/

Reply 16

TomInce6666

I wish you could just get a bigger maintenance loan. Its not like we're gonna have problems paying it off if we're graduates... oh.. wait...

Reply 17

f00ddude

Original post by Emaemmaemily

im guessing they want future students to go on the doll, this was under labour after all and they love the high unemployment numbers as it means they get voters

Reply 18

Emaemmaemily

Original post by f00ddude

im guessing they want future students to go on the doll, this was under labour after all and they love the high unemployment numbers as it means they get voters

Unemployment is worse under a Tory government, they just make it harder to get any help.
But let's not get into a political debate.
I just wish if the intention was to not give us money after graduation, they actually did that, instead of making us live off less for the rest of the year.

Maybe I should sell my body.........