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How does money work at university?

Hi, I am a current A2 student with offers for Sociology with Politics at Newcastle, Sunderland and Northumbria Universities.

I am currently investigating accomodation, which has brought me on to think about a number of questions:

1 - Will I need to get a part time job to survive?
2 - How much money will I receive per term, and is it even per term?
3 - How do students afford to live with £120 a week accomodation?

Thanks to anyone that can help, even more so if any of you are Newcastle, Sunderland or Northumbria Students. I have also applied to Durham, if that information is useful.
Reply 1
Avatar for Luca99
Luca99
4
It all depends on parental income if you are applying as a supported student. If you are applying independently with no support, the circs are slightly different. You may want to look on the Student Finance part of this site or the Student Finance England or Wales or Scotland or NI websites which have loads of info.

Every country of the UK is different in terms of student finance. Accommodation costs need weighing up very carefully, when you know the amount of Maintenance Loan and parental support you will get. Some London based universities for example are well out of the league of many poorer students. I have seen accommodation costs in London in excess of £10k p/a which is far more than the entire maintenance loan ...let alone taking into account, living costs, travel etc.

Loans and in certain areas like myself in Wales, grants, are paid three times a year in October, January and May so many Uni's offer 3 accommodation installments to coincide with Loan times.

It's not easy and accommodation costs are rising, but work out your parental annual income first and then look at where you stand with loans and what you can get. Some Uni's do scholarships and bursaries too. My older brother won a scholarship for History at Aberystwyth last year by sitting the entrance exams and this is worth an extra £1k p/a for him on top of his loan and grant so well worth looking into.

I must admit I am very glad I live in Wales...our student finance help in grants and tuition fee help too is a great relief, especially as my parents will have 2 of us at Uni next year.
Original post by Luca99
It all depends on parental income if you are applying as a supported student. If you are applying independently with no support, the circs are slightly different. You may want to look on the Student Finance part of this site or the Student Finance England or Wales or Scotland or NI websites which have loads of info.

Every country of the UK is different in terms of student finance. Accommodation costs need weighing up very carefully, when you know the amount of Maintenance Loan and parental support you will get. Some London based universities for example are well out of the league of many poorer students. I have seen accommodation costs in London in excess of £10k p/a which is far more than the entire maintenance loan ...let alone taking into account, living costs, travel etc.

Loans and in certain areas like myself in Wales, grants, are paid three times a year in October, January and May so many Uni's offer 3 accommodation installments to coincide with Loan times.

It's not easy and accommodation costs are rising, but work out your parental annual income first and then look at where you stand with loans and what you can get. Some Uni's do scholarships and bursaries too. My older brother won a scholarship for History at Aberystwyth last year by sitting the entrance exams and this is worth an extra £1k p/a for him on top of his loan and grant so well worth looking into.

I must admit I am very glad I live in Wales...our student finance help in grants and tuition fee help too is a great relief, especially as my parents will have 2 of us at Uni next year.


Hi, thank you very much for all of that information! My household income is somewhere around 15,000 which I imagine will qualify for bursaries where available? But I will have to check
Original post by danielargument
Hi, thank you very much for all of that information! My household income is somewhere around 15,000 which I imagine will qualify for bursaries where available? But I will have to check


Put your info into the student finance website to see what you would get. https://www.gov.uk/student-finance-calculator

£120pw is a lot for student accommodation in the North. Is that really the cheapest option you have?
Original post by nexttime
Put your info into the student finance website to see what you would get. https://www.gov.uk/student-finance-calculator

£120pw is a lot for student accommodation in the North. Is that really the cheapest option you have?


Hi thanks that will be really helpful. It actually isn't the cheapest, it's kind of just middle of the range in terms of what it seems to cost in my choices. I was just wondering how anyone manages to pay that sort of fee
Reply 5
Avatar for Luca99
Luca99
4
The maximum you can get in Maintenance Loan depends on if you study in or outside London too and if you study and live at home or in Halls.

To be honest apart from the course it was the second next thing on my list when applying..what is the cost of uni accommodation and the cost of living in the surrounding area. If accommodation costs are massive, it leaves you without many options if parental income is low and means your parents cannot top you up in ££££ sufficiently. I was lucky as my top choice course is at a Uni with relatively low accommodation fees at £98pw approx, and I qualify for a grant and loan in Wales.

I really do think the Tory government need to look at the rising accommodation costs at Uni's because like I said, some universities are out of reach for working class students and that is discriminatory. The whole archaic way of using parental income as the main adjudicator of loans and grants needs to go. After all at 18 we are adults and there needs to be a level,playing field for university access, that is not income dependent.
if your household income is 15k you'll get the max loan and a decent bursary so you should be ok financially

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