Student loans - parental assessment questions

[mum2herberts]

Are you supposed to include child tax credit and working tax credit when you fill section 11 on the pn1? The form is not clear and I think I may have filled them in wrongly for the past 3 years!!

The local authority have written to me to review my application for 07/08 and they are asking me to produce evidence for stuff that I think I missed off the application forms. For example, they count maintenance payments and I left them off because I thought they were non-taxable and therefore not included, as on the child tax credit forms.

The SL on-line system is down and the people I spoke with on the helpdesk seem very unsure about anything I ask them.

[mum2herberts]

Parents are supposed to support the loan application and provide funds if they have enough income. The SL forms are much more complicated than the tax credit ones.

No idea what applicants do if their parents won't participate.

[mumonthenet]

don't know the answer to your question Starlight but I do know that students whose parents won't provide any information are usually only eligible for the part of the loan which is not "income assessed". I.e. a tiddly loan...unless there are other circs...most of which I've forgotten.

Is this her first student loan application?

You could try www.thestudentroom.co.uk - there might be some help on there.

[mumonthenet]

ooops was answering mum2 not starlight but Hi, starlight, anyway.

[webwiz]

100% of the student fees loan and 75% of the maintenance loan is available to everyone whatever their parent's financial circumstances. The remaining 25% is means tested on the parent's income.

[m2herberts]

This is an old thread, but I am back today and wanted to say thanks for the replies. I had my previous application assessed and the original assessment/award was fine, so all is well.

[RustyBear]

To answer Starlight's question, students whose parents don't fill in the form get 75% of the maximum loan and have to manage on that. Even a student on the maximum loan usually either has to get a job or get extra help from their parents to cover even basic costs (eg the maximum loan this year is £4,745 but DD's rent is over £5000 for the year; that includes bills, but she still has to pay for food, books, travel etc as well as the extra rent)
So a student, like DS's friend, whose parents either refuse to be assessed or refuse to pay their contribution will end up working pretty much every spare moment in two or three different jobs.