In reply to chubbs2:
My son is in his first term; I have gone into this in some detail.
First, separate the costs from the source of the funds to pay them.
The costs are:
1. Tuition. Although nominally course/university-specific, virtually all are £9k per year
2. Accommodation and living expenses. Varies by area, whether you live in university accommodation or outside, and by style of room. Typically £4k/year for non-catered accommodaiton and £6k/year for catered. £2k/year for food makes them, the same. then add £X/week for beer, going out, books, clothes, travel, Christmas...whatever. £100-120/week for food and the rest seems common. Total either way, about another £9k.
The sources of funds are:
1. A fees loan - the full amount up to £9k/year
2. A maintenance loan/grant for living expenses. This is means tested and also depends on London/not; living at home/away. For 2013 living away outside London is £5500 max. The full detail (and a calculator) is here:
https://www.gov.uk/student-finance
3. Parents, savings, holiday jobs.
Either of the two loans creates a debt for the student.
The debt accrues interest at:
- RPI plus 3% whilst studying
- 0% while not studying and earning less than £21k
- Above £21k earnings, RPI plus 0.1% per £1k over £21k to a max of plus 3%
The debt is repayable, for 30 years after finishing the course, at 9% of earnings over £21k and then, after 30 years, any remaining balance is written off.
I might be slightly off with some of the numbers above - I don't have my spreadsheet to hand. They are in th elink above and moneysavingexpert has an excellent article on the issue of whether to pay up front or not.
You need to build a spreadsheet and also make some estimates of likely earning profile post course.
HTH