Where do i start, My name is David Hartley, father of an incredibly smart 18 year old (Josh). I'm trying to raise funds to send Josh to the university of his dreams the prestigious University of St Andrews to study for a Masters in Chemistry (MChem), in the real world we would be in a position to help our son or god forbid he would get enough from the government to pay his way through university without being crippled by debt for the rest of his life.
A little about Josh he is studying at a state school in a small mill town in West Yorkshire, he was invited to an interview for a place at Oxford university but unfortunately didn't get a place.
Josh is studying his A levels at a 6th form college and his predicted grades are
Chemistry A*
Maths A*
Physics A (but is burning the midnight oil to get that to an A*)
St Andrews invited Josh to come and visit the Chemistry department in January but unfortunately my father was at the end stages of cancer so we had to arrange another slot to go visit the university.
Now why fund Josh?, well Josh has amazed not only us his parents by his ability in Chemistry but also the head of Chemistry at his school whom was quoted as saying not only is he their best Chemistry student ever, but that he probably knows more about Chemistry than most of the Chemistry teachers, now all this in itself is a great achievement but Josh achieved this after losing 3 grandparents he adored and who adored him and his mum getting diagnosed with breast cancer a touch under 5 years ago, so with such emotional turmoil in his life he has managed to get the grades he has amazes me and all we know .
Now fast forward to March this year, and my alarm went off at 04:00, we couldn't afford to spend the Friday night in St Andrews so at silly O'Clock in the morning we made the 320 mile trip to St Andrews to see what it had to offer, and Josh loved the university and the town of St Andrews and if UCAS was open he would have firmed it there and then.
As a parent though i was a little more reserved as i had been talking to students and tutors about the accommodation, which he will get the 1st year in the halls of residence which to be fair are not the cheapest by far the standard catered accommodation (14 Meals a week) starts at £6150 a year but can be as high as £7681 and we get no choice as to which he goes in.
Then the 2nd year onward students more than likely have to go into private accommodation and this is where the real costs are incurred because of the size of the town and it's location the landlords have a captive market and charge about 700 / 750 per month for rent plus bills not including food.
Josh Gets £5000 a year towards his accommodation food, rent, books etc from the government which he has to pay back.
Scottish Masters degrees are 5 years.
Costs:
Year 1
Accommodation, food etc £7681
Books / living expenses £3000
Year 2
Accommodation £9000 @ £750 PCM
Bills Gas,Elec, Council tax £1800
Food £2600 (£50 pw)
Year 3
Accommodation £9000 @ £750 PCM
Bills Gas,Elec, Council tax £1800
Food £2600 (£50 pw)
Year 4
Accommodation £9000 @ £750 PCM
Bills Gas,Elec, Council tax £1800
Food £2600 (£50 pw)
Year 5
Accommodation £9000 @ £750 PCM
Bills Gas,Elec, Council tax £1800
Food £2600 (£50 pw)
A grand total of £64281
Minus the £5000 a year Josh gets off the Government = £39281
Now of course Josh will try and get part time work etc to try to fund as much of this as he can but with the best will in the world i don't see him able to meet that sum, Josh will at all times take the cheapest accommodation and live modestly.
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