student support

[kah]

I've gone on about this on the forum before - I've contacted my local authority and the relevant student finance people - still no advice or help. Based on my income there is a government expectation that I should support my son through university. He can only get a student loan of £3000 a year rather than the £5000 that would be available to him if I earned less. He works as many hours as possible (his rent is £70 a week) but I don't think he will be able to complete his course like this (he should be beginning the 3rd year of a 4 year course next week)
The only way around this that has been suggested to us (by an official source but off the record) is to claim that I no longer have contact with him. Then his fees will be payed, he will get the full loan and certain hardship moneys could also be available to him as he is under 21 and would be deemed as having no parental support.
I don't like the idea of doing this - but I am desperate - He really doesn't want to give up his course.
Now even if nobody else is involved in this sort of problem today - surely you experts will find yourselves dealing with more people like me in the not too distant future. Is there really no way of dealing with this/

[scaredkez]

so sorry kah can't help you with this but feel for you and hope you get sorted soon.
kerri

Please view my blog at: http://scaredkez.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[iva.com]

Hi kah,

I cannot advise on the course of action that has been suggested to you. However, it might be worth your son applying to his university for a grant from a hardship fund. I received assistance of this kind when I was a student.

Alternatively, there is a directory of charitable funds that you can find in most main libraries. Its a long trawl but your son might find some funds that have been created for situations similar to your his

Good luck with this. It would be a real shame if you son is unable to finish his studies.

Kind regards,
Terry Balfour
IVA.com

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[ray_a]

Kah not knowing what your circumstances are is there anything you could cut back on?

Perhaps if you could give us some more info we can help!

[jane.l]

I really feel for you, my daughter is starting Uni and only gets enough funds to cover her train fare for the year, we are expected to support her, but we get no Child Benefit for her!

We are newly bankrupt and not allowed any help towards this

[kah]

Thank you for understanding - they are being punished for our mistakes. If I dropped dead tomorrow he would get fees paid - full loan + availability of hardship funds!
It was paying for his elder sister to get through Uni that pushed me into the IVA in the first place!

[Rainbow]

He could look into transferring to the Open University - They will give him credit for his previous years at Uni, and the best thing of all its free if he himself (OU doesn't take into account parents income) is earning below approx £17K a year they will also provide him with a laptop and pay for his internet connection. More and more young people are doing their degrees' this way because they don't want to end up in debt. Also more employers are increasingly impressed that the student has studied with the OU.
Just a thought
Rainbow

[kah]

This is the first positive suggestion - Hooray. I will talk to him - I suspect it will be a disppointing suggestion initially as he's doing engineering at Imperial at the moment