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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

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How much for university maintenance

89 replies

Orquid · 30/06/2024 19:52

How much you/ your child spend on maintenance per month at university: Food, accommodation, transport, entertainment, etc. If they live away from home; and what university or town are they in.

Thinking DD will need at least £900 per month. We only want her to borrow the fees so is not too much debt.

OP posts:

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PinkFrogss · 30/06/2024 19:54

I would really consider taking out the maintenance loan as well, for many students it doesn’t make a difference repayment wise, unless they’re on course to be very high earners.

Their monthly payments will be the same however much they borrow, so it really comes down to how likely they are to pay it off entirely.

J0S · 30/06/2024 19:57

It depends which city they are living in, as the biggest cost is usually rent.

Also which course they are studying as some have more contact hours and shorter holidays which make it harder to get a part time job.

Cookerhood · 30/06/2024 19:58

They pay back the same per month whether they borrow £10K or £100K.
To answer your actual question, we paid accommodation for ours & they lived off the minimum loan, so I'm guessing the total was about £9-10K per year. We also paid for their phones and they had jobs but not hugely busy or well paid ones.

Unmute · 30/06/2024 20:02

Ds's accommodation (rent only, bills are extra) in Edinburgh is over £600pm, so £900 would be doable, but barely.

I actually don't know how much he spends each month. He gets the full loan plus a uni bursary and is working through the summer.

Littlefish · 30/06/2024 20:03

Northern city - £120 per week for food, going out, toiletries, clothes etc.

Rent/household bills are separate and paid by us.

In the summer term dd didn't spend as much as £120 per week and came home with £300 left.

Hoppinggreen · 30/06/2024 20:07

We will be paying Catered accommodation (£10K) and for her phone and a Tram pass. She will get around £4k per year loan and she has around £4k we gave her when my Mum died so we don't expect to give her anything else, although I am sure we will send her the odd bit here and there for treats.
She will have £600 roughly with no expenses so thats plenty

Teaformetoo · 30/06/2024 20:10

Can someone explain the finance for me please? DD is year 12. What is the maintenance loan?

Hoppinggreen · 30/06/2024 20:13

There are 2 bits of loan.
One is tuition fees which is around £9250 I think. Everyone can borrow this.
They can also apply for a Maintenance loan, the amount they can borrow depends on what the parents earn in most cases, even if The Parents don't actually contribute. The minimum there is around £3500 roughly

Orquid · 30/06/2024 20:15

Thanks. I guess she will have to take the maintenance loan; but will end with a debt of around 60k for a 4 year degree

OP posts:

Penguinsa · 30/06/2024 20:23

Accomodation will vary a lot based on university, DDs will be £5,000 a year which we will pay. We will also give her about £400 a month for food, going out, clothes etc. She also works and has savings from working since 16 of around £10k. She is a fairly high spender but luckily has a job that pays well.

Lokshen · 30/06/2024 20:26

Rent including bills plus £100 per week term time.

PinkFrogss · 30/06/2024 21:12

Orquid · 30/06/2024 20:15

Thanks. I guess she will have to take the maintenance loan; but will end with a debt of around 60k for a 4 year degree

If she ends up with £60k debt that means you’re expecting her to get about £6k maintenance a year? In which case I’m guessing you’re not particularly high earners - the parental income that means students qualify for minimum maintenance is quite low considering how much they’re expected the contribute.

Therefore she’d almost definitely be better off taking it.

As others have said costs vary drastically - mainly due to rent costs in various areas. The uni website should give an indication of living costs.

I’d also encourage her to get a job, unless she’s going to have a lot of placements throughout.

Orquid · 30/06/2024 21:18

PinkFrogss · 30/06/2024 21:12

If she ends up with £60k debt that means you’re expecting her to get about £6k maintenance a year? In which case I’m guessing you’re not particularly high earners - the parental income that means students qualify for minimum maintenance is quite low considering how much they’re expected the contribute.

Therefore she’d almost definitely be better off taking it.

As others have said costs vary drastically - mainly due to rent costs in various areas. The uni website should give an indication of living costs.

I’d also encourage her to get a job, unless she’s going to have a lot of placements throughout.

Show quote history

Not sure how much she will get or what they classify as high earners

OP posts:

Wazzzzzuuuuuuup · 30/06/2024 21:19

Dc at uni in the North West
She has minimum maintenence loan (around 4500) and we top up rent by around £1000. We then give her £400 pm which covers food, bus fares and an amount of socialising. We also pay her mobile and send her back with bags of shopping after each visit home. Of course we fund everything when she is home, which is effectively 18 weeks a year. Food, clothes, meals and drinks out, driving lessons.

She finds it a bit tight tbf, but we can't afford to give her any more. She has applied for dozens of jobs in her first year with not a single interview. She is volunteering at home over the summer so hoping that her CV will look more attractive when she goes back in September.

MrsWimpy · 30/06/2024 21:21

It's a sliding scale. Starts at household income of £25 to get the full loans and I think the minimum loan kicks in at about £60k?

I'm somewhere in the middle and the loan probably won't cover the accommodation in halls.

Twoshoesnewshoes · 30/06/2024 21:41

My DS spends around £1000 a month
£600 rent (we pay this)
around £400 a month loan covers food and travel
he now has a job a couple of nights a week which gives spending money for nights out, towards festivals etc.

Miley1967 · 30/06/2024 21:52

Can anyone advise what kinds of jobs their kids do in the holidays or term time ? Ds really struggling to find anything and really needs to work. says he has applied for lots but no success. Thank you.

Seeline · 30/06/2024 21:55

Student finance varies according to which part of the UK the student lives in. Most people have described the English system, but other areas are different so check the Government website.

TheFallenMadonna · 30/06/2024 22:00

We pay accommodation, they live off their (minimum) maintenance loan. They both also worked through a gap year.

Seeline · 30/06/2024 22:01

Miley1967 · 30/06/2024 21:52

Can anyone advise what kinds of jobs their kids do in the holidays or term time ? Ds really struggling to find anything and really needs to work. says he has applied for lots but no success. Thank you.

One of mine worked in a chain coffee shop in his uni city. They required at least 16 hrs a week, with one weekday shift. He had limited holiday which meant he had to stay in his student digs most of the time rather than coming home for holidays.
The other does a mix of paid Student Ambassador work - open days, offer holder days, preparing stuff for the website etc. During the holidays she works some shifts at one of the London museums, and also works at skids holiday scheme during the school holidays.

mondaytosunday · 30/06/2024 22:03

My DD catered halls are about 10k. Maintenance loan about £9.5k. She will also get a £500/ term bursary. I will pay her phone. She is frugal not a drinker I don't anticipate having to give her much more and she also hopes to get a job. I'm saving (single parent - widow) so she will only have to take minimum maintenance loan next year as a 9% deduction still pretty hefty. None of us would like a 9% 'tax' on our earnings over 25k would we? She wants to borrow as little as possible and was thinking of living at home (but didn't get an offer from LSE).

Hatfullofwillow · 30/06/2024 22:08

Miley1967 · 30/06/2024 21:52

Can anyone advise what kinds of jobs their kids do in the holidays or term time ? Ds really struggling to find anything and really needs to work. says he has applied for lots but no success. Thank you.

My DD got work via unitemps, both in term and out.

NamingConundrum · 30/06/2024 22:10

It doesn't matter whether she ends uni with £36K or £60K debt. Even £36K (4 x £9K year tuition fee) at 7.8% interest is almost £3K a year interest. Even if rate dropped to 5% its still £1.8K. They pay back 9% what they earn over £25K.

So just to cover the interest on 5%, 9% of what they earn over £25K would have to be £1.8K. Thats £45K a year. How many people earn that immediately after leaving? Almost no one. So interest builds the pot by an increasing amount each year.

They don't catch up their earnings fast enough to pay off any capital.

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Cookerhood · 30/06/2024 22:14

@mondaytosunday it won't make any difference to the amount she pays - even if she takes no more loan at all (which she will, for fees) she still pays the same amount out of her salary when she earns over £25K.

Penguinsa · 30/06/2024 22:20

Jobs will vary by area. My DD got 2 jobs at 16, very sporty which helps for some jobs. She does punting tours (first role was cashier at about £10.50 an hour plus holiday pay then she started chatting to the others and discovered those on sales / doing the tours got paid the most and they trained her in punting etc and she switched) - its commission based with a minimum of £10.50 or so an hour but generally gets far in excess of that plus some very generous tips. Other role was serving the formal dinners at a university college at around £10.50 an hour plus holiday pay but she stopped that after a year to do other role more. Both zero hours contracts but that works well and can bid when want work and always gets it.

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