UK Parents Set To Provide GBP5.29 Billion Worth Of Financial Assistance To Their Undergraduate Children

    LONDON, ENGLAND, September 17, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Two in five (41%) parents with children at university are drawing on their savings or taking out a loan to help assist the financial burden

Sainsbury's Finance offers loans at just 7.9% for Sainsbury's shoppers

New research from Sainsbury's Finance highlights that over half of undergraduate students (53%) in the UK are to be given financial assistance by their parents to see them through the financial burden of university. Those UK parents who have or are intending to give their undergraduate children some financial help will provide a combined GBP5.29 billion to their children over the course of their university lives.

The most common way for parents to provide financial support to their university children is by drawing on their personal savings (39%); this is followed by providing subsidised or free accommodation for students choosing a university where they can live in the family home (14%). However, some 2% of students surveyed said that their parents had already taken out a loan or intended to take out a loan to help them out with university costs.

The average amount of parental financial support given to undergraduates is GBP8,070 per student during their university life. However, of those parents who are helping their children with the financial commitment of undergraduate study, one in three (33%) will provide more than GBP10,000 in support and one in 10 parents is intending to spend over GBP20,000 in helping out their student offspring.

Steven Baillie, Head of Loans at Sainsbury's Finance commented: "There is no doubt that university life is becoming increasingly expensive and financial contribution from parents is viewed as an integral part of the Government's university funding. In the current economic climate, however, this can bring a real financial strain to many families, which is why it's important that parents who are thinking of alleviating their children's financial burdens with a personal loan make sure that they shop around for the best deals."

From a regional perspective, London-based students are most likely to be taking advantage of staying in the family home whilst at university, with one in four (24%) saying they were living with their parents. Students in the South East were the most likely to be relying on their parents drawing on personal savings to help them out whilst at university. These figures are understandable given that 18 out of the 20 most expensive UK universities (in terms of cost of living) are located in London or the South East.

Students in Scotland are getting the highest amount of financial assistance from parents who are giving support, with the average undergraduate set to receive GBP9,784 during their university life. These students are receiving on average some GBP2,500 more than those studying in the North East, who anticipate receiving GBP7,272 from parents looking to make a contribution towards their student costs.

Sainsbury's Finance is currently offering a personal loans rate of 7.9% APR Typical to Sainsbury's shoppers applying online with a Nectar card for loans of between GBP7,500 and GBP15,000. Customers taking out a Sainsbury's Loan can choose to make no repayments for the first three months, receive an instant decision and have their cheque delivered to their door within 24 hours(4).

Sainsbury's Finance offers competitive loan rates and customers benefit from:
Repayment period, from one to seven years
Fixed repayments for the whole period of the loan
An instant personal loan decision
The money in 24 hours

To view our latest press releases and product information, please visit the Sainsbury's Finance online media centre at www.sainsburysfinance.co.uk/media.
Sainsbury's Finance offers a range of quality, competitively priced, award-winning products. It opened for business on 19th February 1997 and was the UK's first supermarket bank. It is a 50:50 joint venture with Sainsbury's and Lloyds Banking Group.

Sainsbury's Finance offers the following products: credit cards and personal loans, a range of Savings products and car insurance, life insurance, home insurance, Travel Insurance and pet insurance

For further information and general Sainsbury's Finance enquiries customers can call the freephone number on 0500 40 50 60 or visit www.sainsburysfinance.co.uk

Notes to editors:
Fieldwork for this research was conducted on behalf of Sainsbury's Finance by Opinionpanel Research between 23rd and 28th July 2009. The sample consisted of 1,000 interviews with students at 134 Higher Education (HE) institutions representative of the UK HE population in terms of gender, year group and university type.
Applicants will have to be Nectar card users and will have to supply their Nectar card number on applying for the loan
Analysis of survey results from push.co.uk conducted in 2007 - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/629/629/7061871.stm
Terms and conditions apply

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