So, 2yrs away from 2 grandkids capable of going to uni but with what hi has become the norm of broken families how do you finance kids capable of doing well at uni??? 🤔 ie 1 parent with uni capable child

Do children go to university?

I would prefer the apprenticeship route but one is definitely in the academic bracket so the uni route is OK

Move to Scotland

Child takes out all loans possible for fees and rent. Parent pays £50 p/w for food, bills etc. Child gets p/t job for beer / drugs money.

That’s how it works in our house. Working well for first few years of medical school so far.

Child takes out all loans possible for fees and rent. Parent pays £50 p/w for food, bills etc. Child gets p/t job for beer / drugs money.

That’s how it works in our house. Working well for first few years of medical school so far.

Aha. Glad this thread has come up, as I wanted.to get the latest opinion. From what I read previously, the OP’s grandkids would just apply for the largest lumpsum that they can and then pay the student tax. ( I’ve made a key assumption here, but bear with me). Don’t bother trying to reduce the amount you borrow, just get whatever you can.

Supernova’s kids OTOH would posibly be well advised to get as small a lumpsum as they can and pay it back via the student loan scheme as soon as they easily can.

The key thing to understand is that for most people it is not a loan, it is a tax. Most people will never pay it all back. Many people will make no dent whatsoever in the “debt” so it’s not worth trying, and definitely not worth minimising the loan amount. Get as much as you can because the tax ( or repayments as some ill informed people refer to them) are based on what you earn, not what you borrowed.

My assumption was that medics would fall into the bracket of people who earn enough to repay the loan, and hence Nova’s kids would be best minimising the loan to make this quicker. But he appears to have a different view. Is it perhaps because medics study for much longer and hence even on a doctor’s salary they can’t pay back the full whack?

Sorry for my badly worded post supernova, can you tell me more about your conclusions on this one?

I would prefer the apprenticeship route but one is definitely in the academic bracket so the uni route is OK

Eh… You can do a degree apprenticeship.

We’ve got one in first year and another to maybe follow at a 2 year gap.

Have gone for just tuition loan in first year and us / Gramps funding living (he funds beer and clothes etc from working in holidays). Done on the understanding he has to pass first year but OK to bail out at that stage if not for him. That way we have a fighting chance of clearing the loan. If he sticks at it then will be full loan for subsequent years (still with us topping up due to income). Then treating as a tax.

I would say pay as little as possible, and let the government pay the rest. Or ‘lend’ it to you as they say.

In a decade we’ll probably have it all cancelled anyway.

Child takes out all loans possible for fees and rent. Parent pays £50 p/w for food, bills etc. Child gets p/t job for beer / drugs money.

Three of ours went through uni like this. Don’t think any of them will ever pay the loan off. One is even avoiding the tax by working in the EU. The interest rate is so obscene that you have to be earning a lot to get ahead of the added interest every year. Overall, it’s a spectacularly stupid scheme.

Eldest hoping to go in September. With the A level chaos he actually finishes college in May, so is already looking for some work over the summer, unlikely he’ll be able to work in term time apparently.

We’ll apply for whatever loans and grants he needs. If he earns enough to have to repay the loans that’s great.

Then just as he finishes, his sister will be off.

Child takes out all loans possible for fees and rent. Parent pays £50 p/w for food, bills etc. Child gets p/t job for beer / drugs money.

Despite the free Uni education in Scotland No1 son went to Edinburgh, which meant Halls/then flat rental he took out a student loan to cover the cover accommodation costs, bank of Mum & Dad covered the day to day costs. He did take a P/T job in the 1styr he was at uni mon-fri and working sat-sun meaning we never got a chance to see him at weekends. We gave him extra money to stop work so we could have time with him in Edinburgh. He got a paid internship in yr 3 and ended up working at the company for a few years and has since moved on earing a telephone number wage. He is paying the loan back through his salary and is happy to do so as he/we couldn’t have done it any other way.

We viewed it as an investment in him and his future and have no regrets.

Whilst were discussing student finances, what’s the view on this:

Just supposing I had managed to squirrel away a hundred quid a month since the kids were born. Am I right in thinking it makes infinitely more sense putting that £25k down as a deposit on a cheap house in whatever town he chooses to study in, then he can use his flatmates’ rent to pay off his mortgage? ( Compared to trying to avoid/ minimise the student loan)

If you really have the spare (disposable) income, and you don’t want them to take out a loan, look at the excess income being gifted on a continuous basis to avoid any (threat of) IHT. Worth a google etc.. bit obscure but pretty straightforward, lots on it with a quick search.

My system is dictated by my own financial limitations. I couldn’t afford to pay the fees or cover the rent without it stinging too much.
I’m assuming that a doctor will always be employed and well rewarded so let them build up as much debt as they need to get there.
If child number two takes a different, less assured route in a couple of years I’ll have to have a rethink, including considering advice that uni isn’t worth it.

If you are paying out of your monthly income (wage, pension) without leaving yourself short and having to dip into savings for your own living expenses then it isn’t liable to IHT anyway.

If child number two takes a different, less assured route in a couple of years I’ll have to have a rethink, including considering advice that uni isn’t worth it.

Our No2 child didn’t go to uni, he got assistance both financially and in time for his first property purchase/refurb.

Both have different careers and lifestyles both seem happy in their adult lives now and as parents we can’t ask for more

Watch Martin Lewis from the other night. Uni special

Apprenticeships are the new universities. There’s a massive choice, you get university coaching as well as on-the-job training, and they pay you rather than the other way around.

A pretty high proportion of the scottish kids at my old place were receiving no funding at all from family. I forget the number, about a third.

It’s worth spending some serious time looking at scholarships and other funding. Used to absolutely boil my piss knowing that some of the most deserving kids never even looked at this because they’d no idea it was an option and often those that did assume they’re not entitled. I missed out on a bursary purely because I never even looked, I felt pretty much average and undeserving. Meanwhile the kids with parents who know how to work the system will often find funds regardless of need.

But worst of all is the unapplied funds. Some scholarships are so specific that they don’t find a beneficiary, year after year. It’s just such a waste of opportunity.

joshvegas
Free Member

Eh… You can do a degree apprenticeship.

Yup but they are definitely not for everyone. Brilliant options for some though.

An alternative is a degree apprenticeship. Our scheme is brilliant, and the people it turns out are awesome. They’ve had four years of work experience, they’ve got a great degree, they’ve got a guaranteed job, and they’ve been paid well throughout. I can’t recommend it more highly.

https://www.capgemini.com/gb-en/careers/jobs/digital-technology-degree-apprenticeship-2021-2/

2021 intake is June and can be applied for now.

My daughter takes all the loans as is suggested as may never complete repayment, even though the interest rate stinks. I pay for rent and my dad gives her a bit too. She works part time at Tesco too so hasn’t also raked up a massive overdraft.

My paying the rent seems more than fair because my mum and dad supported me a lot when I was at uni.

As others have said take out the max loan. If your hosuehold income is more than about £58k they will get a pretty small living laon (everyone can get the fees loan), and this may not even cover rent. Bear in mind household income is evryone is the household, and includes redundancy payments that are usually tax free as well.

This is a decent guide to how much shortfall you may need to make up – either by paying yourself, or by them getting a part time job, which is not as easy as it once was.

Other points:

Look for bursaries from your particular uni – these are usually but not always means tested.
Look for financial awards for high grades at either a level or whilst at Uni – these are usually uni and course specific, but not means tested
Some unis (Cambridge and Oxford for example) dont let you work part time jobs in term time. Other courses may be too many hours to make this work easily as well.

With three at university currently I feel your pain!

It’s worth spending some serious time looking at scholarships and other funding. Used to absolutely boil my piss knowing that some of the most deserving kids never even looked at this because they’d no idea it was an option and often those that did assume they’re not entitled.

Very much this – we’ve looked into it but don’t qualify, which is fine. There are a couple of very old charity trusts that operate in the village who can provide a grant that may cover a laptop or something though. Not just for uni, any sort of education or vocational training. You never know.

If he does go to Cambridge we are hoping that the longer holidays will give him a chance to make up for not working in term time, but getting any job may be tough in the next year or two

We went thru this about 10 years ago. We’d figured (in our old fashioned working class way) that debt was bad so daughter 1 would get help from us as well as working while studying. My wife went to one Uni open day with her and a young, new lecturer there advised my wife pretty much what most on here say. Needless to say she took max tuition loan student loan and got on with Uni.
Last year she used the money we’d put aside for her share on the deposit on her house. (It was £25k) The reduction in mortgage payment (lower interest rate) due to having a good deposit more than repays the monthly amount of the student loan.

An alternative is a degree apprenticeship. Our scheme is brilliant, and the people it turns out are awesome. They’ve had four years of work experience, they’ve got a great degree, they’ve got a guaranteed job, and they’ve been paid well throughout. I can’t recommend it more highly.

https://www.capgemini.com/gb-en/careers/jobs/digital-technology-degree-apprenticeship-2021-2/

2021 intake is June and can be applied for now.

That looks a great scheme. Daughter is really keen on tech (some way off Uni yet though).

If he does go to Cambridge we are hoping that the longer holidays will give him a chance to make up for not working in term time, but getting any job may be tough in the next year or two

whilst a while ago, my sister went to cambridge and I went to cardiff. We were on similar courses. She was allowed to work part time, but only at uni-accredited employers (ie the halls cafateria) and those employers only offered very limited hours (~5 per weekl) to stop students getting distracted. She didn’t bother.

Her holidays were a lot longer than mine, but she was studying, hard (~40 hours a week) through all of the non-summer holidays and about half the summer ones – she didn’t have a job of any sort until she left uni. I on the other hand did a couple of hours of study here and there during the holidays, but otherwise worked full time.

I guess what I’m saying is don’t plan for a student at oxbridge to have any time during the 4 years or whatever they’re there to earn any cash at all. I just don’t think that its feasible. Some probably do manage it. I would also say that (if this is what you’re looking at) – earnings for leavers (comparing my group of friends to hers) are no better. The quality of teaching and amount of knowledge is doubtless better, but I think it steers leavers towards a more academic career, whereas other good unis prepare the students for working life better.

My medical student earns her leisure money from online tutoring of A level, GCSE and pre-med students. This gets round any kind of institute related restrictions and the fact that there’s not a lot of casual bar type work available atm. Pays much better – £12 p/h too!

So what is a typical annual cost for living when kids are at Uni? My eldest is 15 so this feels pretty close, we are in Scotland so don’t need to worry about fees.

https://www.savethestudent.org/money/student-budgeting/what-do-students-spend-their-money-on.html reckons about £795 a month (or £183 a week). Most students are at uni for 40 weeks (but most non-university accomodation will require 52 week contracts for rent).

Or this site will giove you a break down by city. Don’t assume smaller cities are cheaper – less competition for rental places often means places like Lincoln and Northampton are really expensive compared to Leeds or Sheffield.

I left school early and took on an apprenticeship. It was great, my own place and disposable income at 18 was great (I had no choice, I had to move out as soon as I turned 18 so uni never was an option for me) but by my mid twenties the prospect of earning just above min wage for the rest of my life and hating all the jobs I got quickly became unattractive

I put myself through my GCSEs, foundation degree and then uni and graduated last year with a first class in mech engineering. I was given a choice of promotion or new job and now earn a very good wage, with 0 student debt. I am heading upwards pretty quickly vs the more academic people of around my age and below and I am 100% convinced this is due to the real world knowledge I have, common sense I’ve acquired, but probably mostly the confidence I have over others gained from dealing with all kinds of people in all kinds of scenarios

My younger brother went straight to uni, got his degree and now works in a bar. He’s considering doing a masters, maybe he thinks it’ll get him promoted to bar manager or something

My point being, advising your kids to riddle themselves with debt (admittedly they may not have to pay it back) for a course they may not even want to do may not be the best course of action. Maybe let them figure it out themselves, they’ll be more committed to their chosen path when they find it. I was and am infinitely grateful to my parents for being terrible parents when I was a teenager

But @chrishc, your experience is very much anecdotal. There is no ‘correct’ way to approach higher education and what worked for you (and didn’t work for your brother) could just as easily be told the other way around for someone else.

My parents never pushed me to go to uni and I ended up working and soon got used to the salary. Before I knew it I had a mortgage and relied on my income so going to uni as a mature student felt impossible. I now have three kids and feel more trapped than ever in doing my uninspiring job.

Would going to Uni have changed things? Maybe, maybe not. I guess my point is that I regret not going and am stuck in a life of mediocre middle management. I can’t see it would have done any harm.

My 17 year old daughter is due to start Uni in the Autumn.
Her university education will be financed exactly the same way mine was.
The government will pay her tuition fees, her parents will cover her living expenses because she’ll still be living at home and she’ll have a part time job for spending money.
No debt involved.

Son borrowed for fees only and I paid all accommodation and living expenses. he may become a teacher and may or may not repay the loan. Son 2 has no option for loans whatsoever, so saved for 18mo for his first year university fees (13k) and some living expenses. I pay accommodation and second/third year fees which include living expenses. Just don’t ask how much, but it makes medical school look like a bargain. I’d better get some outstanding holidays when I retire.

Child takes out all loans possible for fees and rent. Parent pays £50 £60 p/w for food, bills etc.

This is what I’m doing for my 3 girls (1 X yr2 and 2 x yr2).

Take the loan, pay it off in the future if you come into some money/earn enough.

Ooh good thread drift. This is another one I’ve been thinking about. I did a degree in physics, and it was a complete waste of time, hideously boring, no use whatsoever to get a job and worst of all…. Bloody difficult. It’s never done me any good in the jobs market. Who’s going to employ someone with a 3rd in Physics if they can get someone with a 2.1 in an easy subject…

Almost everyone I know ended up working in IT, regardless of what degree they did, and what they did in the meantime. Even the guy with a first in Chemistry and a PhD in Astrophysics now works as a programmer.
Likewise the chap who did 8 years as a raft guide in Austria and Chile got a much more senior job in IT than me.

My older kid is defo uni material, but then I can’t help thinking it’s a waste of time for the younger one. For that fifty grand I could send him off for two seasons to get qualified as a ski instructor/ MTB guide and then subsidise his wanton existence for a year or two afterwards.
Then if he feels the need in the future to enter the hellhole of mainstream employment after that, would he actually be any worse off…

Most of the ground has been trodden already, but one other thing – if the prospective student in question is ‘guaranteed’ to go into a high paying job and thus clear their lifetime student loan debt in full (25% of students who take out loans for full-time undergrad degrees in 2019-20 are forecast to do this), and you don’t have the capital to pay for them upfront, it would be better to remortgage at current rates than take out the loan. If you don’t mind paying rather than them of course!

It’s never done me any good in the jobs market

I did a degree in Physics too… It’s not ended all bad.

The only advice I give to potential Uni students is study something you ENJOY. Education is not a waste of time. You will develop life skills. You may develop an academic interest in the subject. You may never work in the field again. But be sure you enjoy it. Aptitude but no interest will get you a mediocre result. Less aptitude and a keen interest may see better results much more enjoyment.

Son borrowed for fees only and I paid all accommodation and living expenses. he may become a teacher and may or may not repay the loan.

Could I enquire why you took the fees only loan? On the face of it it seems like a strange decision given that he’ll never pay it off and he wouldn’t have had to repay any more?

Son 2 has no option for loans whatsoever, so saved for 18mo for his first year university fees (13k) and some living expenses. I pay accommodation and second/third year fees which include living expenses. Just don’t ask how much, but it makes medical school look like a bargain. I’d better get some outstanding holidays when I retire.

If you don’t mind me asking, why no option for loans?