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Maintenance Grants.


Miracle

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I think from 2016/17 according to BBC website.

 

Maintenance to be replaced by loans, amount will increase to £8200. Does look like for those from low income families they won't be able to apply for any top up as you can at moment.

Edited by Jane
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Right in the middle of my son`s 2 year HND as well. At least he will be "off the hook" for the first year. I`m just really hoping the Northern Ireland Assembly ,who have very kindly kept university tuition fees here down to £3,750 a year, will decide they can afford to keep the grants going. 

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I believe it is for new students from 2016 so anyone on the current system carry on.

Cynically all I can think is that student rent will increase that year and those running accommodation will be rubbing their hands in glee!

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Aileen my dc rent was just about covered by current maintaince loan and that was university halls, although we had to pay a large amount before the finance was through and student finance went smoothly. I think the management companies will put up the rents in line with the increase in amount of finance the English students will get. They are businesses and are ruthless.

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On the plus side my ds is really pleased about the potential increased amount he could borrow towards lining costs as he was going to have to scrimp and save to pay for the lowest band accomodation at uni. Assuming the right to borrow a higher maintance amount isn't just for the lowest income students then he could now consider the middle priced halls etc and not worry about holding down a termtime job at the same time. The old maximum figure (which was means tested) you could borrow was £4500- £5000ish (outside London) I think. And that definitely wouldn't stretch to the true costs so either parents or students had to find the extra. He wouldn't have qualified for the old grant, and we definitely couldn't afford to hand over £3000+ extra a year to him - so we were in a difficult squeezed middle situation. If he can now borrow the extra £3000 then I am happy. It's still not clear though whether the new higher loan is available to all.

 

Jane I thought the same - an excuse for the providers to up the rents!

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Still Grants and Loans for now,Pictures. From September my son is entitled to a Maintenance Grant of £3,475 a year,for living costs,travel,books,etc. This is £72.37 PW. Needless to say ,he`s delighted. At the moment he only gets an Education Maintenance Allowance of £30 a week. Come September [or sooner] my Child Benefit of £20 a week will stop,so we will be £20 a week worse off. So Sean will give me £20 a week for his keep out of his Grant [albeit only during term time but it`s better than nothing]. He will still have £52 a week for himself to live on,which is going to be £22 a week more than he gets now.Again, we don`t know at this stage for definate if it will be for the full 2 year course or not. But he`s pleased with the amount he will be getting.

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I have been researching and those whose parents are on low income will be able to claim maximum loan but higher earners will still not be able to take maximum loan as will still be assessed on parents income - therefore it will affect low income as it will now be repayable but higher income will still not get any higher amount to live off!

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Was just about to ask where you got that info sblick as every news article the same, then found it on moneysavibgexpert.

So for family income below £25000

Living at home: £6904/yr

Living away but outside London: £8200/yr

Living away in London: £10,702/yr

Awaiting news on bands for those above £25000.

Course fees are going to be allowed to rise too.

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Was just about to ask where you got that info sblick as every news article the same, then found it on moneysavibgexpert.

So for family income below £25000

Living at home: £6904/yr

Living away but outside London: £8200/yr

Living away in London: £10,702/yr

Awaiting news on bands for those above £25000.

Course fees are going to be allowed to rise too.

My son`s course fees have doubled in the last few months. It was £1,400 a year for the 2 year course. It`s from September,when he starts,going to be £2,500 a year. And this HND he will be doing will only be equivalent to the first year of a degree,not the first 2 years. Rip off,but it`s what he wants to do. Don`t know about the Living at Home being £6,904 a year. We have been told he is entitled to the maximum amount,and it is £3,475. And the maximum tuition fees loan is £3,805. But fees are much cheaper here than in England. But I need to double check that Maintenance amount.

Edited by Lisa O`Brien
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Yes, the cap on tuition fees hasn't received much media attention but one wonders how much higher they can justifiably go given the level of private school fees which cover a longer academic year and much more actual teaching. University fees are ridiculously high for subjects with few contact hours.

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I think eventually all students post 16 will end up taking a loan for any higher education :( not the best scenario but at least it would be a level plain across all incomes

Edited by Guesty
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Precisely. I have 9 hours a week for £9000 a year. And the uni is still terrible at communicating and hiring decent tutors!

That`s not on at all,Munchkin. Surely there must be a body similar to the Government`s Public Accounts Committee ,where the universities are scrutinised to make sure they are delivering value for money,isn`t there? 

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Precisely. I have 9 hours a week for £9000 a year. And the uni is still terrible at communicating and hiring decent tutors!

 

Whatever happened to  part time study opportunities??  Back in the 1980's I did a part time MSc - one day per week consisting of 4 hours practical work plus 7 hours of lectures. OK it was a crazy day considering I had a 2 hour commute either side of it, but it enabled me to hold down a full time job at the same time. I find it really sad that a lot of flexibility seems to have gone out of higher education. And yes some of the lecturers were pretty whacky then (one was reputed to moonlight as a ballroom dancing teacher, and another kept a rather unpleasant dog in his office, to deter callers) but at least we weren't paying £9000 pa for the 'privilege'.

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Last year one of my students who doing A-levels turned down an offer from a prestigious University as she would only have two hours contact per week on her course. When she told me this I thought it meant two hours with her tutor in addition to lectures.  But no she explained, it meant just two hours of lectures per week!  She accepted another (equally good) offer and is very happy there.

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