Maintenance loan for travel

5

Hi guys
I was never thinking of applying for the maintenance loan but I seemed to have changed my mind. I’d definitively need it for transport to uni as I’ll go by train. One question I wanted to ask: is there any use of a railcard16-25 as I’ve seen the requirements of paying a minimum 12 pound if travelling between 4:30 -10 am? I don’t really understand what that means I’d appreciate if someone could explain?
Asking my classmates hasn’t really helped me as many are moving away and I’m planning to stay at home.
Asking teachers they’ve advised me to take as much as I can get and even if I don’t use it I can use it for other things eg buying a house etc.
But I don’t want to have so much debt when I know I only need the maintenance loan for transport.
The problem I have is I don’t know how much I should claim? I’ve looked at student seasonal tickets and railcards but I’m not sure 😭can anyone advise me what to do and what the best thing to do is when looking for prices for trains .
I know I wrote so much but I’d appreciate if someone could give me advice.
Thank you!!

(edited 10 months ago)

Reply 1

Kifo75

3

If you want to use the young persons railcard and either your outgoing or return journey would be before 10 am, the amount you pay for your ticket (I assume either return or single) after the discount needs to be £12, otherwise it is invalid. Depending on how many days a week you would be travelling to university (plus additional commuting for social reasons etc) it might actually work out cheaper to get a season ticket rather than buying the tickets daily with the railcard. You cannot buy a season ticket with your railcard. I think you need to have a look at the different costs (Trainline app is usually accurate) and work out which is going to be cheaper. I am a parent (rather than a student) and when I lived in the South and worked in London it actually worked out cheaper to get a full season ticket even when I was only going into London 4 days a week.

Reply 2

threeportdrift

Careers Forum Helper

20

Original post

by huda.m

Hi guys
I was never thinking of applying for the maintenance loan but I seemed to have changed my mind. I’d definitively need it for transport to uni as I’ll go by train. One question I wanted to ask: is there any use of a railcard16-25 as I’ve seen the requirements of paying a minimum 12 pound if travelling between 4:30 -10 am? I don’t really understand what that means I’d appreciate if someone could explain?
Asking my classmates hasn’t really helped me as many are moving away and I’m planning to stay at home.
Asking teachers they’ve advised me to take as much as I can get and even if I don’t use it I can use it for other things eg buying a house etc.
But I don’t want to have so much debt when I know I only need the maintenance loan for transport.
The problem I have is I don’t know how much I should claim? I’ve looked at student seasonal tickets and railcards but I’m not sure 😭can anyone advise me what to do and what the best thing to do is when looking for prices for trains .
I know I wrote so much but I’d appreciate if someone could give me advice.
Thank you!!

You seem to be confusing various things and so it's hard to know what advice to give.

First off, your financial position doesn't make much sense without more info. You need no money at all for 3 years at uni, apart from travel? Are your parents paying for all your accommodation, food, clothes, pocket money etc, everything except transport?

A student loan is the cheapest money you will ever be loaned, which is why teachers are saying take the money anyway. That's not what it is meant for, but if you took it, saved it efficiently over 3 years, and just used it for transport, you could probably pay the whole loan back very quickly, if not immediately.

I don't think you can choose how much you take out as a loan. It's vanishingly rare not to need/take out a student loan. The amount you get depends on your parents' income.

Quite separately, on the matter of train tickets, you are mixing up 2 different schemes. Season tickets are for regular travellers. A full season ticket is paid for in advance, so costs a large lump some, but assuming you travel several times, every week, they work out cheaper overall. They are designed for people who are employed and travel 42 weeks of the year, they aren't likely to be financially efficient for student travelling about 32 weeks of the year. Plus they require a large, up-front payment.

There are, post-Covid, various other 'season tickets', but you would have to look up and understand what is on offer locally to you, as they vary regionally. In some places, for example, you can buy 8 discounted tickets that then can be used any day/time in the next 28 days.

A student Railcard costs a small amount to buy, and then gives you a discount on individual tickets you then buy on the days you need. However, the train companies want to make a minimum amount, so if you are travelling at rush-hour, when the trains are full, then the discount doesn't apply unless you have a relatively expensive ticket. So a student railcard is usually the most financially efficient solution for students who travel too and from home at the end of term, or trips on holiday etc. It won't be efficient for rush-hour commutes because they are likely to fall below the minimum ticket charge, unless it's a long commute.

Maintenance loan for travel

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