University fees.

[Nanna with questions]

I am a pensioner and my only income is my state pension. I fostered my grandson from the age of 3months until he was 8yo, then I was granted an S.G.O, he turned 18 in June so my s.g.o. stopped even though he stayed in education until his A level results, he is now living in at university but struggling financially, he is estranged from his mother and his father died when he was a baby, I have been his sole carer all his life. He has no income to live on and I find it hard to send him money, can he get support from anywhere, he is allowed tuition fee grant and help with accommodation - but has to pay part himself- but both have to be paid back, thank you.

[Robin D]

Hello Nanna with questions and welcome here.

There are grants and bursaries available but take some work in doing the applications. The best source of help is at https://www.ucas.com/money-and-student- ... -bursaries. His university will also have a welfare team, sometimes called 'Student Support' that will help him explore other options. I appreciate he may not feel like asking locally for fear of being ridiculed, but they will not do that. They are very keen to do whatever they can to keep people on track with their studies and not drop out purely for financial reasons.

The other factor is the debt concern, but I would encourage him not to worry about that. Student finance do not start taking money until he is on very good money and if he never earns enough, it never gets repaid.

I believe if he was ever 'in care' a it seems he may have been if you were fostering, he can also apply to the local authority responsible at the time, but Suzie, the FRG advisor will be able to help more with that as it's not an area I know well.

A worrying time for you I know, but realistically there is little more you can do apart from contacting your MP to make them aware of the situation and the effect it's having on you and your grandson. You can do that at https://members.parliament.uk/members/Commons and again, nothing to be fearful of. Your MP is there to help constituents.

Good luck ... Robin

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

I am a pensioner and my only income is my state pension. I fostered my grandson from the age of 3months until he was 8yo, then I was granted an S.G.O, he turned 18 in June so my s.g.o. stopped even though he stayed in education until his A level results, he is now living in at university but struggling financially, he is estranged from his mother and his father died when he was a baby, I have been his sole carer all his life. He has no income to live on and I find it hard to send him money, can he get support from anywhere, he is allowed tuition fee grant and help with accommodation - but has to pay part himself- but both have to be paid back, thank you.

Dear Nanna with questions,

Thank you for your post and welcome to the kinship carers’ forum. I am Suzie, an online Family Rights Group adviser replying to you today.

Congratulations to your grandson on his university place. I am sorry to hear that he is struggling financially.

You explain that you were a kinship foster carer to your grandson from of 3 months old to 8 years and then you became his special guardian.

After the special guardianship order was made your grandson was no longer a looked after child and does not now have care leaver entitlements. Care leaver entitlement does apply to some young people who were in special guardianship at age 18 but were looked after for more than 13 weeks beyond the age of 14, but this is not your grandson’s situation.

There is a depth of detail on care leaver status. You can read about this on the relevant Family Rights Group web page here.

Universities often have targeted support for care-experienced students, but bear in mind that universities and colleges have varying definitions as to who is seen as care-experienced. Some universities regard students who grow up in kinship care as care-experienced but others do not. Your grandson could check out if this focused support is available to him at his university.

However, every student in U.K higher education is entitled to student welfare, wellbeing support – which includes advice on finances and housing. If he is uncertain how to find out about this help - your grandson could start by asking his personal tutor to guide him.

• You can read a guide from the Office for Students on student welfare support here.
• There is a Money Saving Expert (Martin Lewis) guide to student money here.
• The Scholarship Hub have a list of charities that award small grants to students. You can link to it here.
• Turn2Us offer advice and resources where there is financial insecurity here.

I hope this is of some help, and I wish your grandson all the best for his first term at university and beyond. There are so many changes happening for both of you this autumn.

There are many different ways to contact Family Rights Group if you seek further advice in the future:

• A free telephone advice line open Monday to Friday between 9.30am and 3pm (excluding Bank Holidays) on 0808 801 0366
• Easy-to-follow online information. Features include an A-Z, FAQs, films, ‘top tips’ and legal advice sheets;
• A webchat service where you can message an adviser online, who will help you find information and advice to support you.
Submitting an email enquiry via the here
• to receive a response within 5 working days

Best wishes,
Suzie