Dance in The Rain

Teenagers Applying to University – A Parents Guide Part II

Before I start on about applying to get into halls, here’s a great website I heard about yesterday The Scholarship Hub.  They are the go to website to find scholarships and grants to help your teen reduce their student debt.

Now for part 2 of :

Mum to Teens Guide for Parents of Teenagers Going to University in September  – Halls of Residence

If your teenager has applied for a university that’s not in your home town then they need to apply for a room in halls as soon as they get a UNCONDITIONAL offer and have accepted their place.

Just as with applying with finance your teenager may tell you they don’t need to apply yet, but DO NOT listen to them.  If they want to get a room in halls they need to apply as soon as they get a unconditional offer.

How to Apply for Halls of Residence

Every university will have its own application process but they will mostly all be online.

So, your teenager has received an unconditional offer a place at the uni of their choice their first step is to get onto that university’s website and click on accommodation.

There will most likely be several different residences they can choose from and prices will be different for each one.  For example, a room with an ensuite will cost more than one with shared facilities.

I do suggest looking at the residences with your teenager and making them consider things like how far they are from the university building most of their lectures will be in and how they’ll get back and forth from uni to halls.  And do they really need an ensuite room?

They should select one residence they favourite over the others and a back up building in case that’s unavailable.

Once they’ve made their decision they can click through to apply for accommodation on their university’s website.

This is where they list their first and second choices of halls.  This is also where they tell the accommodation services of any special needs or requirements they might have to ensure they get the accommodation best suited to their requirements.

From there the university will consider their application and let them know if you are successful and what they’ve been allocated.

This consideration can take anything from 7 days to several weeks so don’t worry if it takes longer than you expected.

As soon as your teenager has accepted their offer of halls of residence they will be expected to pay a deposit that will vary from university to university but may include a booking fee, insurance and some rent in advance.

Paying Rent on Halls

This is what the maintenance part of the student loan is for.

Rent in halls is normally payable in 3 instalments with the first being due in term one, then again at Christmas and then again at Easter.

If your teenager’s student loan hasn’t come through by the time they are due to pay their rent you may want to pay this for them and get the money back from them when their loan comes through.  Although if you don’t want to do this (which would be totally understandable) then I would suggest contacting the university and explaining the loan situation as they might wait for the rent.

What if my Teen Doesn’t Get into Halls?

Don’t panic.

Teenboy didn’t get into halls of residence (he applied too late!!) but he did get a really, really nice room in private halls of residence that is ensuite and not any more expensive than a room in halls.

More information for parents and their teenagers

This is a great place for lots more info on Halls of Residences

League tables of rents for university accommodation all over the UK from Unipol (unfortunately it’s for 2009/10)

 

 

Teenagers Applying for University – A Parents Guide

If your teenager has applied to university this year and is beginning to get their offers back then this is the guide for you.

Having gone through this process with teenboy just last year I know the ins and outs of applying to university, applying for student finance and applying for a place in halls to getting a place in private halls.

But more importantly, given teenboy’s laziness I know how NOT to do – how to pick up the pieces and fix it when the teenagers break it – cos invariably they do and they will because they’re teenagers.  Although if you’re one of the lucky parents who have organised, disciplined and effective teenagers then you won’t need this guide at all.  The rest of you, have a read and arm yourself so you can help your teenager not make a mess of it like mine did!

Before we go any further I need to tell remind you of one thing – make sure your teenager keeps their UCAS login info somewhere safe (if possible get a copy of it and keep it safe for them) they will need this on results day to find out if they’ve got enough points to get in.  Again, this is a huge mistake teenboy made.  He lost his and we spent all day trying to get through to UCAS on the phone.  On results day this is an impossible feat.

Due to the amount of information I’ve split it into at least 2 parts, although it may end up in 3.

So here’s part one of :

Mum to Teens’ Guide for Parents of Teenagers Going to University in September

Your teenager has got an offer from one of the universities they’ve applied to, here’s what you need to make sure they do next:

Apply for student finance NOW

Apply for halls of residence NOW if they have an unconditional offer

Your child might tell you they don’t need to apply for finance yet because they’ve only got a conditional offer so they don’t know which university they’re going to until they get their A-Level results.

DO NOT listen to them.

To ensure they have finance in place they need to apply for their student loans now.

DO NOT make the same mistake as teenboy who didn’t apply for either until August.  He then had no money for his first term, and almost got kicked out at Christmas cos he hadn’t paid his tuition fees because he hadn’t got his money through.

How to apply for student finance

Your teenager and you can do it at www.gov.uk/studentfinance

This is a government website filled with all the information you and your teenager will need to apply for and access the finance that will get them through their whole time at university.

Tuition Fee Loan – your teenager can get up to £9,000 each year to pay their tuition fees for a full time course.  Remember, as this is a loan it MUST be paid back once they earn £21,000 a year.  And if they haven’t paid it off in 30 years it gets written off.

Maintenance Loan – your teenager can get a loan to help pay for living costs while they’re at uni.  If they’re going to live at home they can get £4,375 per year.  Living away from home they can get up to £5,500.  And if they’re living away from home in London they can get £7,675.  This is also a loan and MUST be paid back.

Maintenance Grant – your teenager may be able to get some further help by way of a Grant.  This is means tested and dependent on the family income.  If your household income is less than £25,000 a year then your teen can get up to £3,354 a year.  This reduces the more you earn.  If you earn more than £42,600 your teenager won’t get a grant.  This is a Grant and DOES NOT need to be paid back.

When your teenager applies for student finance you will most likely want to support their application.  To do this you will have to provide details about your total household income.  This is done quite simply by adding your national insurance number to your teenager’s application or at a later date by replying to the email you’ll receive after your child has completed their application.

You may be asked for some more information to substantiate your household income this can include things such as payslips for the past year, P60, self assessment tax return, benefits book, pension info, investment statements, evidence of divorce, etc.

You can find out more information about your part in your teenager’s student finance application here

Your teenager can apply online for their student finance here

Loans and grants are paid in three installments – at the start of the academic year, at Christmas and then finally at Easter.

DO NOT pay your teenager’s tuition fees up front.  If for some reason your teenager’s finance does not come through in time for the start of their course you are under NO OBLIGATION to pay their tuition fees up front.  The university knows they have applied for a tuition fee loan and they are happy to wait until that comes through (within reason, see teenboy’s problem above!).

Student finance will not give you any information regarding your teenager’s application unless you get your teen to give them consent to do so.  I highly recommend that you do this.  Just in case something goes wrong and your teenager isn’t equipped to get it sorted out, for example it’s Christmas and they’re going to get kicked out of uni because their loan hasn’t come through, you can get on the phone to them and get it sorted within minutes.

Student Finance England

Telephone: 0845 300 50 90

Twitter – @SF_England

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/SFEngland