No. a Dada wouldn't work out for us either. Our eldest is off to Uni in Sept and will receive the min maintaince loan due to our household income. We need to top this up for him, at least at first till he finds some work. One of the places we considered their cheapest campus accommodation was 50% more than his entire loan! There's no way we could fund him, plus pay course fees (even with a Dada) and fund living and accommodation costs for DD too.Robin64 wrote:That is a good point about the degree and I hadn't thought of it that way. For us the Dada just doesn't work out - there is too much to top up and we would have to pay for all the maintenance. With 3 kids at or nearly at uni we can't manage it. In the right circumstances a dada is preferable especially as it is not a loan that needs paying back. Loladd there is basically no difference in the courses at the big dance/drama schools as others have said. it is an age/funding thing. If you are thinking of more mainstream uni MT courses then check carefully about contact hours and actual training - some might fall far short of what you get elsewhere.lawn wrote:Something you may want to consider is if you go for the diploma, it isn't using up your years of entitlement to student loan funding (4 years I believe). So in the future if they want to do a degree in something else, following a change of mind or later on in life they could still get student funding.
With the diploma though, even if you get a Dada, unless your income is below £30K I think, you will have to fund the living/accommodation costs yourself. I always think this is a real tough one, unless you live within a commutable distance or have a conveniently situated family member they can lodge with.
It is slightly different for us, in that DD's strength is her acting, so acting courses which do tend to be more student loan biased , would appeal more. That is needs paying back doesn't concern me. Payment only kicks in when they earn over a certain income and at a small percentage. It's written off after 30 years if there's anything owing. The liklihood is that many will never be paid in full.
I've been following your posts for a while Robin, is there any news on where your DD is going yet?