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Vet students, loans, and bank managers

Hello all!

I was just looking for some advice on financing my uni years.
Did you apply for a standard student finance loan to cover tuition fees, and maintenance or sort out something with your bank?
I've seen lawyer specific loans but nothing for the vet students!
My family knows our bank manager quite well so I might just go speak to him to sort it out?

Thanks!

Reply 1

Jennybean

13

You get a tuition fee loan and a maintenance loan (for living costs) from the Student Loan Company. The tuition fees get paid straight to your uni and the maintenance goes straight into your bank account. If you can possibly avoid it, don't get a normal loan from a bank as the money you borrow will accrue interest meaning you'll pay back a hell of a lot more than you borrowed, over what will probably be a really long time. The SLC allows you to borrow your money, keep it til you're earning over £15,000 pa then pay back the exact amount borrowed, no matter how long you've kept it, with no interest.

It's a good idea to earn as much as you can in the holidays, especially if your parents can't help you out with rent, as the accommodation companies for the RVC especially will rape you something chronic. Unite housing really is daylight robbery, a total rip off, and everything costs more in London anyway. My two best friends are in Mary Brancker, where the rent for the year exceeds the amount the SLC will actually give you by £900; one's parents are paying for her accommodation but struggling, the other has given her entire loan to her parents so that together with their £900 contribution they can pay the rent, then lives off her own earnings during term time. So you can see that if you have to use some or all of your loan to pay for accommodation, you really will be pretty strapped for cash! Depending on how much your parents earn there are bursaries and grants available so if you're at the lower end of the income spectrum make sure you look into those as well.

Reply 2

blondey

1

i was lookin at rvc accomodation, and why do you have to pay for 50wks of the year when u wont be there for all 50wks.

it seams really unfair, ive got friends who will get the same money in as me (loans, burseries, grants etc) but only have to pay £60 a week for 43 wks. so they will be much better off than me. i know livin in london is much more expensive, but the extra loans etc just dont seem to cover that. im worrying that im not going to have enough money to live off, and my mam cant afford to help me out at all. guess ill be gettin a job! lol

Reply 3

Mad Prospective Vet

Heya, hate to put a spanner in the works guys - but you do get charged interest on your student loan - yes it is a tiny tiny amount compared to the crippling rate a bank or normal loan company would charge you. but it is by no mean the 'interest free loan' that we all get duped into believing it is! :eek:

sorry

- but you don't have to worry about paying it back until ..as Jennybean said you're earning £15k

Applying for the loan however is really easy- you can even do it online (FINALLY!)
:s-smilie:

As for a job- see if you can live off you're interest free overdraft that the bank (that you have your student account with) gives you (should be approx £1250 in your 1st year) and then get a short part-time job in the hols between the EMS- and keep an eye out for the gold-dust-like EMS placements that will actually pay you...it may not be much but everything helps. If all else fails you could get a job during term-time in Camden if you have no other option. but i would try to keep this as a reserve option as the last thing you want to risk is letting your grades slip once you've worked so damn hard to get there!

Best of Luck! :biggrin:

Reply 4

Jennybean

13

I swear you don't pay interest, just the equivalent of inflation...

Reply 5

tiny_tiger

Yeh thats what ive been told this year.

Reply 6

two22

Yeah you pay base rate interest which is the same as inflation. All it means is that you pay the same amount back in real value terms but you pay a higher actual amount back. I hope that makes sense - I'm not very good a getting the correct terminology!

Reply 7

harvkingspin

Basically its called intrest free but you will end up paying more than you borrowed because of inflation. Just like how the course fees go up every year with inflation its like that, u'll have to pay more back, but its only what the orignal amount would be worth after inflation.

Reply 8

Elizabeth :-)

I think natwest still do a vet loan but do watch out for the interest rates! Apparently the rate of inflation used to calculate student loan interest is from a higher scale than the actual rate, there are 2 scales apparently. so you do end up paying more back. The government won't just lend you money for free, even though they sayd it's charged at rate of inflation i bet they make profit out of student loans. I am very cynical i know but I don't trust Tony Blair...

Reply 9

Elizabeth :-)

I think natwest still do a vet loan but do watch out for the interest rates! Apparently the rate of inflation used to calculate student loan interest is from a higher scale than the actual rate, there are 2 scales apparently. so you do end up paying more back. The government won't just lend you money for free, even though they sayd it's charged at rate of inflation i bet they make profit out of student loans. I am very cynical i know but I don't trust Tony Blair...

Reply 10

leggielass

Loan or not, the Veterinary student account is very good at mat west, i've had one since first year and i always get privelages and a free cuppa in our branch for being a valued veterinary customer!! plus there are branches everywhere, and they sometimes open on a saturday.

Reply 11

leggielass

I took out a student loan and invested it even tho i didn't need it, giving me extra cash for a computer, holidays, a pair of oakleys , a horse and a saddle! we fell on hard times and now i live off my loan. whether you use it or not, the £15 grand lump sum at such low interest is a valuable asset!! and the cheapest loan you'll ever get- it could be a car, a house deposit or a way of buying towards a practice and you don't pay it back till you're earning enough.

Reply 12

Mad Prospective Vet

see ...knew someone else out there would know what i was on about... :smile:

(despite my mangled way of putting it)

Totally agree with leggielass - even if you aren't going to use it...stick it in a high interest account/isa or something...and hell you'll even get a bit of interest (which should cover the inflation bit) and the lump sum...can use for whatever!!!

Fun! :biggrin:

Reply 13

leggielass

I have an ISA at Halifax cos they're good for savings.

Reply 14

your.angel

1

Elizabeth :-)

I think natwest still do a vet loan but do watch out for the interest rates! Apparently the rate of inflation used to calculate student loan interest is from a higher scale than the actual rate, there are 2 scales apparently. so you do end up paying more back. The government won't just lend you money for free, even though they sayd it's charged at rate of inflation i bet they make profit out of student loans. I am very cynical i know but I don't trust Tony Blair...

What I don't understand, is on the back of the loan forms this year it has a rate of interest, presumably the one linked to inflation, that you'll be paying back, but mine is different (lower) to everyone elses I've seen...!

Reply 15

Elizabeth :-)

Thanks for the advice leggielass, I already have a nat west acct so will porb change to a student one especially if it means you get a free cup of tea! I heard somewhere you also get a 5yr railcard is this true. also you managed to buy a horse! everyone has told me that i will be poor an not able to have a horse, car, and various othe rpets that i want but i am feeling quite hopeful now.

Reply 16

lucyrobyn

6

i think that a horse would only be possible if you are lucky and will still get a great deal of help from your paretns so u wont need to use your student loan. i get the full grants and loan because my mums on the lower wage bracket and will be unable to help ATALL. however, my dad is a selfemployed artist who has started to do really really well. so he will pay for my accomadation (hopefully) and, with my savings, i wont need to get a student loan for 1st yr. . . . . but im going to anyway. im going to invest the whole of my 1st yr student loan and hopefully at the end of uni, the money gained from investing will help pay back most of my student loan debts. . . . .well thats the grand plan.