Worcester Students' Union has joined calls for changes to the way that maintenance loans are paid to students.
Currently, recipients typically receive their loans in three instalments throughout the year. Your SU President, Ronke, believes payments made to university students should be paid monthly to better align with the way wages are received and bills are paid:
“Monthly payments of the maintenance loan would model the way you receive wages. To model that as a reality will help people to learn budgeting, and it’s a good opportunity to teach students the real-life skills they’ll be using after they graduate.
I know for a fact that some people do struggle with the bigger payments. It’s easier to manage your money if you know it’s coming in regularly on a set day of the month.
I believe changing the payment schedule to make it more regular and reflective of how we receive our wages when we work would be a good step towards teaching students financial responsibility.”
Your SU and Officer team are in support of Labour MP for York Outer, Luke Charters, who is calling for a government review to examine how student finance payments are scheduled, including whether they should be paid monthly.