Budget blues can affect the best-prepared student. Loans may not arrive on time, a parent may lose their job or be unable to work, or a landlord can raise the rent unexpectedly. And, of course, first-years can spend well beyond their limit early on and leave themselves with little to eke out the rest of the term.
Most, if not all, universities and student unions provide student advisers and hardship funds to tide students over until they can sort out their finances. But it’s important to approach the right person for help. Andrea Simpson, a money adviser at a northern university, says students should see their student union (SU) adviser first rather than the university finance officer, whose priority is getting in income, not student welfare.
The key to avoiding most financial hiccups is to plan ahead. If you have not applied for a loan, do so immediately, Simpson tells students. The sooner you apply, the sooner you’ll receive it. Enter a university name on the form, even if you don’t know that is your final destination.
In the same way, students – and parents, if possible – should go to financial advice sessions put on by your preferred university or, if not possible, a local institution near home.
At open days at the University of Wolverhampton, for instance, SU advisers run workshops through to September aimed at specific student audiences (single, mature, part-time, with disabilities, single parent). SU adviser Helen Clarke says three years of workshops have seen student financial problems halved. “Some parents tell us they are not comfortable giving out personal financial details, fearing it will affect their earnings, but we explain it will have no impact,” Clarke says. “We’ve also had single-parent students having to come off benefits, and that’s a massive shock for them. Nobody tells them they can’t receive both benefits and student funding. We also find many students just apply for the basic stuff and don’t know they can also apply for hardship funding.”
The sessions warn students against blowing the first of their annual three maintenance loan instalments, because it may have to last them up to 16 weeks before they get a second payment to cover a shorter Easter term.
Parents and students need to know their rights and responsibilities, particularly when signing rental contracts with a university or private landlord. Students should ask their university if it can check the tenancy contract before they sign. Parents have to understand their role as a rent guarantor for their child and to scrutinise rental payment plans – they may require a large, and unwelcome, upfront payment.
Clarke’s basic advice is simple: “Check out everything well in advance before you decide on a university. Then make sure you have all in place before your son or daughter enrols.”
