Do unis give commuting support
I will be starting uni soon and commuting , do unis give students that live far away from campus support?? I live around 1 and a half hour far by train.
Reply 1
Original post
by AnonymousI will be starting uni soon and commuting , do unis give students that live far away from campus support?? I live around 1 and a half hour far by train.
Hi there, it depends on your uni but the majority do not. If you are of a low income family there are schemes and grants which can assist you in finding the funding to learn
Reply 2
Original post
by Bluefoxy09Hi there, it depends on your uni but the majority do not. If you are of a low income family there are schemes and grants which can assist you in finding the funding to learn
Yh like student finance and maintenance loan right ?
Outside of maintenance loans not really in my experience or to my knowledge in the UK, at least that is specific to commuting. If you're from a low income background then as above you may be eligible for some bursaries or grants from the uni, which you can spend on your commute or whatever else.
Apparently Manchester did a pilot scheme some years back offering a pilot group of students (I think it was specifically commuter students and mature students) the option to get reimbursed for up to £100 in travel costs per term that were used to attend co-curricular events but I can't find any reference to it since so it seems they did not continue with it unfortunately.
Some unis do have funds to support students from low-income backgrounds with the costs of participating in societies/clubs but often these exclude travel costs.
That said many student bank accounts offer a free or discounted railcard, which can save a lot if travelling by train (unless you're a mature student who is too old to be eligible for the 16-25 railcard).
Apparently Manchester did a pilot scheme some years back offering a pilot group of students (I think it was specifically commuter students and mature students) the option to get reimbursed for up to £100 in travel costs per term that were used to attend co-curricular events but I can't find any reference to it since so it seems they did not continue with it unfortunately.
Some unis do have funds to support students from low-income backgrounds with the costs of participating in societies/clubs but often these exclude travel costs.
That said many student bank accounts offer a free or discounted railcard, which can save a lot if travelling by train (unless you're a mature student who is too old to be eligible for the 16-25 railcard).
Spoiler
Reply 4
10
Maintenance loan is expected to cover the cost of the commute, Universities don't usually offer anything specifically on commuting. They may offer discounted rates for being a student (usually buses and not trains though).
Reply 5
20
Original post
by artful_loungerThat said many student bank accounts offer a free or discounted railcard, which can save a lot if travelling by train (unless you're a mature student who is too old to be eligible for the 16-25 railcard).
Mature students are eligible for the 16-25 railcard, even if over 25; the only proviso is that they are studying full-time, where that is defined as "attending college or University (in the United Kingdom) for 15 hours or more a week for at least 20 weeks a year."
See https://www.16-25railcard.co.uk/help/faqs/mature-student/
(edited 1 year ago)
Original post
by martin7Mature students are eligible for the 16-25 railcard, even if over 25; the only proviso is that they are studying full-time, where that is defined as "attending college or University (in the United Kingdom) for 15 hours or more a week for at least 20 weeks a year."
See https://www.16-25railcard.co.uk/help/faqs/mature-student/
See https://www.16-25railcard.co.uk/help/faqs/mature-student/
Thanks for the clarification! Interesting how they qualify the number of hours since I'm pretty sure some full time courses have fewer than 15 contact hours especially in latter years, even for full time students!
Reply 7
Original post
by AnonymousI will be starting uni soon and commuting , do unis give students that live far away from campus support?? I live around 1 and a half hour far by train.
Hi there!
My name is Lily and I’m a third year psychology student at ARU in Cambridge and I am also a commuting student. I wanted to tell you about my commuting experience and whether my campus offers support.
So I’m around an hour commute into uni. I do this by getting a park-and-ride nearby which is cost-efficient for me. In terms of whether there is a lot of other commuting students I would say there is due to me and a lot of my friends being students who commute.
In terms of support with money commuting there is constant information being pushed out about cheaper ways to travel. For example there is a program for £1 bus fares for university students currently. As well as this there has also been travel bursaries that the university has supplied for students who are in need. Obviously, this is just a personal experience so I can’t say where are you are going to university will offer this exact support, but I would like to think that most/all universities will offer financial support for those who need it.
In terms of socially, the community within university is constantly pushing for students to socialise with others. This enables that those who are commuting have that university experience as socialising with other students may be a bit more difficult for those who are not on the premises all the time.
I hope this reassures any worries that you have about commuting and if there’s any questions I am more than happy to help.
ARU Digital Ambassador
Lily
Reply 8
Original post
by martin7Mature students are eligible for the 16-25 railcard, even if over 25; the only proviso is that they are studying full-time, where that is defined as "attending college or University (in the United Kingdom) for 15 hours or more a week for at least 20 weeks a year."
See https://www.16-25railcard.co.uk/help/faqs/mature-student/
See https://www.16-25railcard.co.uk/help/faqs/mature-student/
Original post
by artful_loungerThanks for the clarification! Interesting how they qualify the number of hours since I'm pretty sure some full time courses have fewer than 15 contact hours especially in latter years, even for full time students!
The hours requirement is not contact time, it's the time your uni declares the course requires, so most courses at 30-35 hours per week, will qualify.
Original post
by threeportdriftThe hours requirement is not contact time, it's the time your uni declares the course requires, so most courses at 30-35 hours per week, will qualify.
That's interesting. Do they need to actually classify the course as full time as well? I should ask my department about this!
Reply 10
Original post
by artful_loungerThat's interesting. Do they need to actually classify the course as full time as well? I should ask my department about this!
I don't think so. My understanding was that that is the reason behind many part-time courses declaring 16 hours per week and the train companies requiring 15 hours. Sorry, my part-time course was many years ago, I can't remember the details.
Basically, if you can get your Uni to sign the document, that's it.
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