Can anyone explain things to me in simple terms? My son is confusing me a little so just wanted to check.

He gets money every term, yes? Some is paid directly to the university for accomodation? Whatever the remainder is is left in his account?

Is it that simple?

I doubt it!
Beer fags and drugs who pays that?

The accommodation fees are not always automatic. You get a loan some of which go direct to the university to pay the fees (if he took the fee loan option) the loan your son gets is seperate, from which he will probably manually have to pay accommodation, the very little left is for pub crawls kebabs and drugs.

The loan is paid in 3 installments for each semester, the last semesters loan will be smaller due to short duration.

Edit: you would know if he hasn’t taken the fee loan as the university would not let him register unless it is paid.

We pay him money for daily food costs and that.
I appreciate the tuition fees are paid directly to the university but it’s the actual university accomodation fees that are bothering me.

He got a maintenance loan, I thought that was for accomodation.

Where I’m going is, if the money goes into his account for accomodation, he has to pay the university for that term immediately doesn’t he? The money can’t sit in his account while he spends it on drugs and beer and then the university expect the money half way through or at the end of term?

It is for accommodation but he may have to pay it to accommodation manually rather than it just being deducted from the loan.

Edit, so yes if he doesn’t pay accommodation he can spunk it on other things. Phone accommodation they will be happy to advise as some university’s differ.

Can we assume you’re in England? Different situations around the country.

Right ok, so the manual payment, if that is what is required, would have to happen right at the start of term. Anything else would be crazy.

I think (hope), he’s trying to pull a fast one. We gave him a big lump sum to act as a buffer and for big things he might need, as well as paying him a weekly allowance. My wife asked him how that was going and he said it might not last through the next term. Which confused us a little because the lump sum was meant for the entire year. He then started talking about his accomodation fees running out.

I guess I’m hoping he just means he’s been stupid with the lump sum (he’s getting no more) and will now end up suffering for it and maybe he’s been getting a little bit extra from his loan rather than he’s managed to wangle spending the accomodation loan.

Not returning my calls at the mooment which isn’t unusual on a Friday night but I’m panicking a bit.

edit: Yes, England.

Give accommodation a ring to clarify, they will be on him very quickly if it’s not paid (speaking from experience) as I said it may be a completely different system.

Right, he’s started texting me now.
He has paid the fees and had £250 left over, it’s that that he’s talking about.
He’s used some of the lump sum to buy some books and a bus pass but that’s it.

Phew!
Thanks all.

samuri jnr later this evening 😀

Accommodation is paid from the loan money in the account once per term. If you’re lucky the loan payment will be in the account before the payment is due (university accommodation is scheduled around the loan payment dates). If your son is late with completing forms or anything else associated with the loan the payment will be late into the bank.
With private landlords and the NHS bursary scheme we’re having a whale of a time with Sandwich jnr in is second year.

*yawns* standard night in.

Just make sure he doesn’t rush out & spend his first student loan on them new-fangled Rock Shox Judys…

😳

That £250 will be long gone by now 😉

samuri jnr later this evening

I have to say the black lace suits him.

He came home the other week. Straight to bed when he arrived, stayed in bed till dinner time, then went out, home for tea, back to bed, up at 12:00 the next day, dinner, took him to the station. 🙁

Wow lucky kid… what about getting a job to pay for his beer rather than get handouts from daddy at a time when he is meant to be learning what it is to be an adult? Greater good and all that, you may just be holding him back.

Money things I did not know as a student that I now hand down to new students:

1) There are bursaries for bloody everything. I was eligible for a load, just assumed that I wouldn’t be as I was an averagey student from an averagey family. Check it out

2) Most universities keep a team of student staff- normally called ambassadors or similiar- as casual workers for their recruitment team. Basically these guys do the running around for school visits, open days etc, envelope stuffing for mailshots… Why is this good? Well because 1) it pays for easy work and 2) there are usually about 3 girls to every guy. Really I don’t know why we pay the guys.

3) Don’t buy the reading list on day one, there will be at least one book you never open, wait til you actually have some reading to do. ALso check out used book sales, ebay etc. Oh and this is more specific but check the authors to see if any of the books were written by the husband/wife of the lecturer!

As above. Tuition fees paid direct to Uni. Maintenance portion paid to student to live on covering everything including accommodation. FWIW with our 3 kids we paid accommodation and they lived on the maintenance part for food etc. Last daughter in London is paying £600 pcm for student digs, other two in Leeds paid about £300. They generally did a bit of work in holidays as money wasn’t enough to last certainly over the summer. I recall the maint grant was something like £1000 a term pretty tight. We also paid their phone contracts as we’d rather our daughters always had phone to make an emergency call than no balance on a PAYG.

Re the last trip home, just have a word as that’s totally not acceptable. I do clearly remember my parents telling me not to treat their home as a hotel, had same conversation with one of my daughters too. Basically standard practice really.

Samuri, I still love you 😀

Sensitive subject samuri? 🙂

Not at all, just an appropriate response to an ridiculous statement.

+1 glasgowdan

+2 Samuri, no returns.