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Can't afford to go to offer holders day

I have an offer from Durham but I can't afford to visit it. The train fare would be over £100. I would take the coach but it is 7 hours so I don't see how it would be feasible for me to take the coach as I would be going for 1 day only. I have heard that the uni could reimburse my costs up to £100 but I would still need to pay £50 from my own money however I don't have the money to buy the ticket in the first place.

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Original post by Anonymous
I have an offer from Durham but I can't afford to visit it. The train fare would be over £100. I would take the coach but it is 7 hours so I don't see how it would be feasible for me to take the coach as I would be going for 1 day only. I have heard that the uni could reimburse my costs up to £100 but I would still need to pay £50 from my own money however I don't have the money to buy the ticket in the first place.

You don't have to attend the offer holders day although it would be nice to. Have you tried asking your school/college (head of sixth form) if they have any financial burseries you could access? Otherwise you may need to give it a miss and watch online clips about the uni instead :frown:
Reply 2
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Ðeggs
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How can you afford to pay university living costs and accommodation if you can’t afford to go to the open day? Do you have university bursaries?
Original post by Deggs_14
How can you afford to pay university living costs and accommodation if you can’t afford to go to the open day? Do you have university bursaries?

There is such a thing as student loans and bursaries you know but the cost of attending Open Days and Applicant Days is difficult for a lot of people
Reply 4
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OP
Original post by Deggs_14
How can you afford to pay university living costs and accommodation if you can’t afford to go to the open day? Do you have university bursaries?


I would because I am entitled to the maximum student loan.
Reply 5
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Original post by Anonymous
I would because I am entitled to the maximum student loan.

Ah okay fair enough, is the bursary that Durham provide for open days and offer days not enough?
Reply 6
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Anonymous #1
OP
Original post by Deggs_14
Ah okay fair enough, is the bursary that Durham provide for open days and offer days not enough?

It is not enough they can give £100 max and it would cost me nearly £150
Original post by Anonymous
It is not enough they can give £100 max and it would cost me nearly £150

Can you get a railcard or take the megabus
Ask about accommodation to stay over so that you can take the coach.
Speak to your school about any help they can offer.
Ask if your family or friends have a credit card that they are able to put the fares onto that you can get the refund to reimburse them before they need to pay.
Throwing one more thing out there: look into train-splitting or advance fares! If you're quick, you can get tickets at a fraction of the price you'd pay from the machine on the day. My journey to uni (about 3 hours) normally costs over £40 each way but I managed to pay just £8 with an advance fare (the disadvantage is you are tied down to that particular train time, but I'd imagine that's not a problem for an open day).
Original post by Anonymous
It is not enough they can give £100 max and it would cost me nearly £150

The Durham Travel Bursary pays up to £150
https://www.dur.ac.uk/resources/postofferinvite/TravelBursary2020.pdf
Reply 11
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Original post by Anonymous
It is not enough they can give £100 max and it would cost me nearly £150


Can you really not afford £50? For something that will determine your future? Can your parents or relatives not help?
Try Omni for consolidating your train travel - I've got very cheap tickets from London to Durham with that. If you go to the overnight one in March they put you up in your college (if you've been allocated one already) and feed you too - I think it's free. You should really try and get there. If someone in your family can't lend you the extra money you could try your school? Even a friendly teacher, who you could pay back a tenner a week, maybe? You need to think creatively about this - if finances are tight for you now, they'll be tight next year too and you're going to have to learn to juggle loans etc, unfortunately. Why not start early and see this as a logistical problem you can overcome? Good luck!
Original post by Anonymous
I have an offer from Durham but I can't afford to visit it. The train fare would be over £100. I would take the coach but it is 7 hours so I don't see how it would be feasible for me to take the coach as I would be going for 1 day only. I have heard that the uni could reimburse my costs up to £100 but I would still need to pay £50 from my own money however I don't have the money to buy the ticket in the first place.


They actually reimburse it up to £150! Because mine was worth £112 and they paid it in full! Don’t let this stop you hopefully have you applied for it?
Original post by Anonymous
I would because I am entitled to the maximum student loan.

Even the maximum student loan can leave rather a lot of students short of the total needed for accomodation and living expenses. Martin Lewis (money supermarket) feels that the government is not being open and honest enough about the loan system, in that respect.

Offer holder days are not essential - do not over worry if you cannot go - you can do virtual tours online - your school may have a hardship grant that you can apply to if your parents are on benefits etc and cannot afford to help you travel there.
Original post by Anonymous
I have an offer from Durham but I can't afford to visit it. The train fare would be over £100. I would take the coach but it is 7 hours so I don't see how it would be feasible for me to take the coach as I would be going for 1 day only. I have heard that the uni could reimburse my costs up to £100 but I would still need to pay £50 from my own money however I don't have the money to buy the ticket in the first place.


Hey, what college and course have you applied to? I know it wouldn't be the same but you may be able to find someone who can take videos of the accommodation and the talks so that you can get a feel of it. I saw there are some clips on their website but they are. a little old and not very informative so it may be helpful (just an idea).

Best of luck :wink:
Original post by Anonymous
Hey, what college and course have you applied to? I know it wouldn't be the same but you may be able to find someone who can take videos of the accommodation and the talks so that you can get a feel of it. I saw there are some clips on their website but they are. a little old and not very informative so it may be helpful (just an idea).

Best of luck :wink:

Thank you I have applied for a chinese degree, i have applied for South college but I didn't get an allocation letter yet so not 100% sure if I got my choice of college or not.
Original post by Deggs_14
Can you really not afford £50? For something that will determine your future? Can your parents or relatives not help?

Going on anon as seen you around

But can you not be patronising? I've not been in the same situation as OP but some people are out here trying to make ends meet, and £50 is unaffordable due to parental situations and backgrounds etc or just anything else

Also you applied for Geography at Cam and it is quite disappointing you don't know the extend of social inequality in the UK... Some people struggle to buy food so a train ticket is a luxury
Original post by PQ

OP Problem solved?
Reply 19
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Original post by Anonymous
Going on anon as seen you around

But can you not be patronising? I've not been in the same situation as OP but some people are out here trying to make ends meet, and £50 is unaffordable due to parental situations and backgrounds etc or just anything else

Also you applied for Geography at Cam and it is quite disappointing you don't know the extend of social inequality in the UK... Some people struggle to buy food so a train ticket is a luxury

Are you a stalker then? 🙃
I’m just surprised because going to the offer holder day as I will be doing is an important step in making the final decision of what university you want to firm. It seems like the travel bursary will cover them, and of course I know about social inequality in the U.K. thank you very much.
(edited 4 years ago)

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