University #1: Student Finance

Before I started this blog, I had created another aptly named The Journey To University, it’s pretty probable that you’ve already worked out the topic. If you want to have a look at that, click the link. I don’t post on that blog anymore as it was all part of a project for college, but it includes some pretty useful information and tips on topics from moving away to university, to help with accepting or declining your offers. After me wanting to start a series like this for a while and a great response on Twitter when I asked if people would like me to start a university series too, here is the first post – student finance.

By this point, most of you will be waiting for offers from universities you have applied for, and will be looking at applying for student finance. I only accepted one offer out of the 5 that I got, because I didn’t want to go anywhere but Manchester Metropolitan (any of you going here too?) so I didn’t see the point in an insurance choice. When I’d heard off other people that it was a lengthy and very repetitive process, I wasn’t surprised when I was clicking through page after page of very similar looking stuff. Before starting to apply, I’d suggest you have the following to hand. I didn’t, and me, my mum and my dad ended up running around trying to get everything so we could sort it out quicker. 

1. Your passport and National Insurance number
2. Your parent(s)/guardian(s) National Insurance numbers and P60’s
3. Your course name and code
4. Information of any benefits or other forms of income you receive, if you receive any
5. You will be asked for the end date of the course

It is time consuming so I wouldn’t advise starting it around half 8/nine pm like we did *yawn*. I wouldn’t say the application is difficult, but the wording was a little confusing at times, but only because they were asking so many similar questions over and over again. You are given the option whether you want to take your household income into account when applying. I chose to give it, just so that the student loans company got a spot-on view of how much money my parents earn which would make the loan I receive more accurate. I have applied for the tuition loan which is paid directly to the university and the maintenance loan available if you’re still living at home. There are grants, bursaries and scholarships available as well, so it’s worth checking if you qualify for those too!

It’s also interesting to have a look at the repayments calculator, as it gives you an idea of how much you’ll be paying back and how often. It’s not the nicest figure you’ll ever see (unless it’s going IN your account) but it’s worth being aware of.

The whole application is straight forward, just answer the questions, click yes or no, then continue. If you do have any problems or just want to ask a question, you can leave a comment with your email address or give me a email on amyjanealice@hotmail.com. I’m no expert but as I’ve just gone through the process I might be able to help 🙂 This post isn’t the most interesting that will crop up in the series, but it’s about something we all have to go through if you’re planning on going to uni! Thank you for reading everyone 🙂

Amy x