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do I have to apply for a maintenance loan if my firm uni doesnt require one

I dont really get how student finance works but basically my firm uni choice is close to where I live so I can commute their but my insurance choice isn't so I have to live in accommodation.

im not really planning on going to my insurance, if I get in to it I probably just won't go to uni because of the living costs but my question is do I still need to apply for a maintenance loan?

Reply 1

GabiAbi84

If you don’t need a loan then you don’t Have to apply for one.
How are you going to pay your bills/buy your books/socialise whilst at uni however?
Do you work?

Reply 2

WantBeAnonymous

You don’t technically need to buy it can be useful eg for travel costs, fuelling your caffeine addiction, buying textbooks, printing, stationary and field trips if your course has those

You could make voluntary repayments to give back what you haven’t used at the end of the year if you really want to

Reply 3

o_reo

Original post by GabiAbi84

How are you going to pay your bills/buy your books/socialise whilst at uni however?
Do you work?

my firm uni is in the same city I live in so I just need to consider travelling costs.
do I need a maintenance loan to cover travel costs?

Reply 4

GabiAbi84

Original post by o_reo

my firm uni is in the same city I live in so I just need to consider travelling costs.
do I need a maintenance loan to cover travel costs?

I don’t know your financial situation so I couldn’t tell you that.

Do you work? Are your parents going to pay for everything for you? Do you have savings etc?

Reply 5

o_reo

Original post by GabiAbi84

I don’t know your financial situation so I couldn’t tell you that.

Do you work? Are your parents going to pay for everything for you? Do you have savings etc?

I do work and I have some savings not sure if its sufficient enough
my parents will probably only pay for food because I live with them lol

Reply 6

BurstingBubbles

Life & Style Forum Helper

I don't think that you have to have a student finance maintenance loan if you can afford to not have one. My uni course was paid for with an NHS bursary and a maintaince bursary too so I didn't apply for student finance. This was 7 years ago though, so things may have changed. If you can afford to not have a loan then don't, then it's probably best not to have one so you're not paying it back with interest.

Unless you take the loans and put them in a relatively decent savings account/ISA to get interest on it. Might not work out better though :tongue:

Reply 7

Catherine1973

Not sure about the firm v insurance part, but I just paid all my own expenses out of savings/work (mature student). The interest costs were so high compared to my interest on savingsx

Reply 8

Uni of Hull Students

Official Rep

Original post by o_reo

Hi o_reo

I would suggest you do some research on Student Finance, it sounds like you think you do not need the Maintenance loan, how about the Course fees? I am not certain what you are hoping to study but I guess it will be £9,250 per year. Yes the interest rates are disgustingly high, but the repayments are low so, get the full information so you can make an informed decision about what you want to do.

Best of luck

Chris
University of Hull Student Rep

Reply 9

Clearing and Applications Advisor

I would always recommend that you take out a full maintenance loan.

If you don’t need it now then put it in a savings account to save a deposit to move out later or to buy a car or similar if you need to relocate or drive to work after university.

And it’s a good idea to get into the habit of paying rent to your parents so that it’s less of a shock when you move out.

Student loans are the most affordable lending you’re likely to ever get - and if you’re getting a loan for tuition fees then depending on the amount you expect to earn on graduation it’s likely that taking the maintenance loan too won’t actually make any difference to the amount you repay (which would make it pretty much free money). Have a play about with the student loan calculator on the moneysavingexpert website to see how borrowing with or without maintenance affects your repayments.