*** *** THE DAILY TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2009 *** *** V STUDENT FINANCE telegraph.co.uk MONEYMATTERS helps to ensure you dont overspend and then find yourself with nothing left to live on, McGrath adds. Once you have sorted out your finances and found a bank account, its time to start planning your spending. A mobile phone might feel like a necessity, but think about whether you he grant cheque has arrived, your parents have topped up your really need to send so many texts. Before you leave for university, check bank account and you have a few that you are on the best tariff available, hundred pounds saved from your summer job. You feel like a millionaire! and change your supplier if necessary. Remember that if you live in halls or But that few thousand pounds is a shared house, and have a room with going to have to go a long way. And unless you plan carefully you could find your own tenancy agreement, you will yourself with money worries before the have to pay for a TV licence. Think about whether you really need your own end of the first term. Catherine McGrath, personal current broadband connection, or if you can take your laptop to the account director at Lloyds university library where it TSB, says: New students might be available for free. need to talk to their parents Socialising is an or the student adviser at important part of university their bank and go through life, so when you go out their finances to decide www.studentfinance with friends, consider how what are necessities direct.co.uk much you want to spend and what are luxuries. Student Finance England, and stick to it. The money you have to administers grants, loans and other financial Make your own packed live on in your first year will assistance lunches and try to limit come from a number of your latte intake. Your sources. About two-thirds www.slc.co.uk/ student or NUS card and of students are eligible for The Student Loans Company offers financial some bank cards can get means-tested maintenance assistance for higher you discounts at retailers grants of up to 2,906, but education in the UK and restaurants, so make you will probably need to www.ucas.com/students/ sure you know where the top these up with loans of studentfinance/ best offers are. up to 3,225 for your tuition Advice from Ucas with links Books are an essential fees and up to 4,950 for to other useful websites outlay but they dont come maintenance (or 6,928 in www.moneysavingexpert. cheap. When you arrive at London). Unlike grants, com/banking/Student- the university, check notice however, you will have to bank-account boards for secondhand pay these back once you Advice on how to find books or see if they are start earning at least 15,000. the best deals in student bank accounts cheaper online. Most universities hold It might also be worth a discretionary bursary fund www.nus.org.uk/ visiting your university of money which they pay out The National Union of Students website offers town before starting your to students who can prove advice and campaigns for course to snap up any they are living below an changes to student finance part-time jobs. With the income threshold. You will recession and growing need to speak to the finance unemployment, these office at your university might be harder to come by, so dont about this. Additional help may be wait until everyone else arrives and the available to mature entrants, students who have dependents or are disabled or scramble begins. If you do find yourself in financial have learning difficulties. More details trouble, seek help as soon as possible. are available from Student Finance Every university and college has a England (see Address Book). financial adviser who can guide you Shop around for the best student bank accounts. Most offer special deals through any problems. Jon Lightfoot, student funding officer and cash or money off incentives, so check out which one is best for you. Ask at the University of Bristol, says: We tend not to see many students at the about overdraft facilities and compare beginning of term, but after a few weeks interest rates. You can also register for regular text alerts to keep you informed we start to get inquiries from those who have spent their grants too quickly or of your balance. One way to manage money effectively havent managed their money as well is to set up two bank accounts. One can as they should. The message is to come and see us act as a bills account, for rent, gas, because we can help get you back on electricity and other necessities, while track. Money problems never just go the other can be used for everything away, so dont ignore them. else. Splitting your money in this way Student finance is a nightmare right? It doesnt have to be, says Dorothy Lepkowska, if you get savvy about it now Y CASE STUDY T ADDRESS BOOK flashing cash, buying people drinks and ushering them into expensive clubs only to find that when your moneys run out, theyre less keen to spend theirs. So budget. And prioritise: its pointless going out Monday to Thursday if theres a party on Friday and you havent a penny left. 8 How to make friends and influence people 7 Its not all work, work, work... but dont forget it Far be it from me to lecture but eventually even freshers have to start thinking about work. And, unlike at school, theres no one around to tell you how much to do: youre left to get on with it yourself. Two observations may be useful. First, lectures and seminars are a surprisingly interesting way to meet people, and if you attend some, you may even discover broadly what to say in exams. Second, campus libraries hardly ever have more than one copy of any book useful to your course, so get to them early. A scary thought: in Freshers Week, its never the people you expect wholl become your friends for life. That scrawny bloke with a ring in his nose might still be hanging around your house in 15 years time. So, though its easier said than done, try not to judge people too much, but listen to what they say remember, most people just want you to be nice to them. (If only youd known before...) Lectures and seminars are a surprisingly interesting way to meet people Metropolitan College. In the words of David Cassidy, while he was still with the Partridge Family, I think I love you (Hugh Grant in Four Weddings And A Funeral). 10 Know how to get support 9 Gentlemen, brush up your chat-up lines Or rather, dont, because all chat-up lines are rubbish. Except the ones in the movies, that is. We like these three: You make me want to be a better man (Jack Nicholson in As Good As It Gets). How do you kill five hours in Rio if you dont samba? (Roger Moore in Moonraker). Hard to use, admittedly, if youre a student at Belfast Much of the printed material you get in Freshers Week will end up in the recycle bin, but there are a few bits you should tuck away for a rainy day. These are the contact details of people whose job it is to help you out if things go wrong, from counsellors to medical staff. Here are some national sources of help: For emotional support, The Samaritans, 08457 90 90 90. www.thesite.org, for advice aimed at people aged 16-24. The National Debtline, 0808 808 4000. NHS Direct, 0845 4647. Many unis in the UK offer confidential Nightline services, www.nightline.ac.uk ou probably have scary figures about the average student graduating owing almost 20,000, and if youre about to begin life as a fresher, might think debt is your birthright. It doesnt have to be. You may have a fair amount of free time at university and, with some entrepreneurial flair, could buck the trend. That was costume designer Cherilyn Leesons (pictured) plan. The 21-year-old is in her final year of a BA in Costume with Performance Design at The Arts University College at Bournemouth. While she could not avoid debt, including 3,200 spent annually on tuition fees plus 6,000 on accommodation, she has avoided exceeding her overdraft by renting out her seamstress skills. Before uni I was really worried about debt, so I tried to think of ways to cut costs, says Cherilyn. I realised that while I couldnt avoid certain expenses, I could get a job. I thought Id earn more using my sewing and costume design skills, and knew it would be more useful for my future career too. I want to make costumes in film and theatre. My mum and dad came across a website (www.studentgems.com), where students advertise for work, says Cherilyn. The site allows students to sign up for free offering their skills anything from gardening to web design and then matches them with businesses looking for jobs they want to get done. I put up pictures of outfits Id made and that led to two big jobs: making a wedding dress, and creating life-size tomato and banana costumes for a publishing company on a book tour. I was paid 600 for the dress and 300 for the two costumes. Cherilyn advises other students to take a part-time job and adds: Dont do so much that you leave your coursework on the sidelines, but using your skills to earn money is a good idea. LUCY TOBIN Lucy Tobins book, A Guide to Uni Life, on how to get the most out of university, is available now (Trotman, 9.99)
*** *** THE DAILY TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2009 *** *** A-LEVELS & BEYOND Facing your future J udgment day is here at last, which means two years of hard work are reduced to one small envelope and a few vital letters of the alphabet. But while the contents of that envelope will determine what
*** II *** *** THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2009 THE DAILY TELEGRAPH *** CLEARING telegraph.co.uk DECISIONS , DECISIONS In the current economic climate, should you be thinking about doing a course directly related to your future career, asks Dorothy Lepkowska, or is it still okay to follow your heart? hoos
*** *** THE DAILY TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2009 *** *** III CLEARING telegraph.co.uk significant shortfall in the number of vacancies likely to be available through clearing. But things have improved slightly since then, with a further 10,000 places now to be made available in maths, science
*** IV *** *** THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2009 THE DAILY TELEGRAPH *** UNDERGRADUATE LIFE telegraph.co.uk WAYS TO SURVIVE UNI BY CHRIS ALDEN 3 Dont leave home without... Jamie Oliver (and if you cant persuade him, make do with one of his books). Enough staple food rice, pasta and tinned stuff to surviv
*** *** THE DAILY TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2009 *** *** VII ALTERNATIVE PATHS TO SUCCESS telegraph.co.uk Opportunity knocks University isnt by any means the be all and end all of life after school, the world is full of successful non-graduates, says Fiona Donald O kay, so were not all the nex
*** VIII *** *** THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2009 THE DAILY TELEGRAPH ***
*** *** THE DAILY TELEGRAPH THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2009 *** *** V STUDENT FINANCE telegraph.co.uk MONEYMATTERS helps to ensure you dont overspend and then find yourself with nothing left to live on, McGrath adds. Once you have sorted out your finances and found a bank account, its time to start plann
