Student Savers

Don’t delay, apply for student finance today!

633628722569168436 — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Going to university in 2012/13 and wondering how you’re going to pay for it?

If you normally live in England then Student Finance England can provide a range of support, including loans, grants and bursaries, on behalf of the government.

Apply now for student finance - the final deadline for completed applications is 31 May 2012. The quickest and easiest way to apply is online at www.direct.gov.uk/studentfinance

Apply now to ensure your funding is in place for the start of your course. If you’re a new student you don’t need to have a confirmed place at uni or college to apply. Simply apply using your first choice course then update your details online later.

The final deadline for completed applications is 31 May 2012.

Get in the know, before you go!

Student Finance England provides a range of tools to help walk you through what to do and when to do it!

•    Download our handy key dates checklist, attach it to your notice board or fridge and stay on top of what to do and when to do it

•    Looking for answers? Why not try out the Sifter (Student Information Fast Tracker) to find the answers to your questions on our website. Find out more.

•    Watch our myth busting film

•    Find us on Facebook and try out our new app for a step-by-step guide on how to successfully apply.

•    Learn more with our range of ‘how to’ films

•    Find out how much finance you can get with the student finance calculator

•    Or alternatively, read our “Guide to financial support for new full-time higher education students 2012/13”

Let’s cut to the chase! (Loans, grants and bursaries)

The two main costs you’ll have while studying are tuition fees and living costs.

Tuition fees

All English universities and colleges will charge you a tuition fee for your course. Students starting a course in September 2012 could be charged up to £9000 for the year. While, students continuing their studies in 2012 will be charged a maximum of £3465 in tuition fees. The good news is you won’t have to find this money up front! All students can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan; and it doesn’t depend on your household income.

Living costs

There’s two main kinds of support that can help with your living costs while you study; a Maintenance Grant and a Maintenance Loan. For most students, the important difference is that you don’t have to repay a Maintenance Grant. There is also a Special Support Grant which replaces the Maintenance Grant for some students.

Extra help is available for people with children, adult dependents or disabilities. If you have a disability, mental-health condition or specific learning difficulty, you may be able to claim Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs). For more information on applying for DSAs check out our latest guide “Bridging the gap”.

And if you have children or an adult who depends on you financially you might be able to get extra help in the form of a Childcare Grant, Parents’ Learning Allowance or Adult Dependants’ Grant. Our guide for students claiming Childcare Grant and other support for student parents can be found here.

Bursaries and scholarships are awarded by your university or college. How much you can get usually depends on where you are studying and on your household income. The National Scholarship Programme (NSP) starts in September 2012. It gives financial help to students normally resident and studying in higher education in England. The scheme is designed to help students from disadvantaged backgrounds, whose household income is £25,000 or less. Eligibility for the programme will vary according to the particular university or college. NSP awards are in addition to any other loans or grants students might apply for.

Lastly, the Access to Learning Fund can also provide help for students who experience hardship and need extra financial help to stay on their course. This will be provided by your university or college.

So, when do you get your money?

Well, the first thing you must do is register at university or college– we can’t pay you anything until you do!

Once you’ve registered, your university will let us know you’ve started your course and we’ll transfer your money to your bank account. Typically this all happens within your first week at uni. Your Maintenance Loan and Maintenance Grant will usually be paid in 3 instalments – one at the beginning of each term. Your Tuition Fee Loan is paid direct to your university or college.

And repayment?

You don’t repay any grants or bursaries but you do repay Tuition Fee or Maintenance Loans. The good news is you don’t make repayments upfront.

New students starting their course on or after 1 September 2012 won’t begin repaying their Maintenance or Tuition Fee Loans until April 2016 or later, depending on when they leave or finish their course. These students will only start to repay once they are earning more than £21,000 a year (£1750 a month or £404 a week). At that point, they’ll repay 9% of their earnings above this amount.

New or continuing students who started before 1 September 2012 won’t begin repaying their Maintenance or Tuition Fee Loans until the April after they leave or finish their course. This is only when they earn more than £15,795 a year (£1,316 a month or £303 a week). They’ll then pay 9% of their earnings above this amount.

All students pay interest on their student loans from when their first installment is paid until they finish repaying. To find out more go to www.studentloanrepayment.co.uk

Apply now! Go to – www.direct.gov.uk/studentfinance

Giles Ursell - Online Community Manager

Young Blogger of the Year 2011: Meet our winner

633628722569168436 — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Louisa Marsden was crowned Young Blogger of the Year 2011 at the Clothes Show Live last week.

Louisa was chosen from 5 finalists by Cat Dal and received her prize in front of a packed NEC in Birmingham.

Watching from the front row with the 4 other finalists, Louisa was named the winner and went up on stage to collect her prize, preceded by a thunderous applause from an audience full of fashionistas and trendsetters.

Members of yougo were asked to submit a 200-word blog about fashion and all the entries were shortlisted down to five, who were then invited to the show to discover the winner.

Cat Dal, www.catsbandcrushes.com, selected Louisa’s entry and our lucky winner will now have the chance to blog for www.clothesshowstylescout.com... so keep an eye out for her work!

It was a great day at the Clothes Show Live and a big congratulations goes to Louisa for winning this fantastic competition.

Here’s Louisa's winning entry:

BOY MEETS GIRL

I'm getting some funny looks while shopping at the moment.

Not due to the ridiculously big bobble hat I lug round on my head, but the armfuls of men's clothes I’m ferrying to the fitting room. It's getting ridiculous. Instead of lusting after the figure hugging t-shirts in the women's section, I'm drawn to the oversized, vintage inspired knits, shirts and tees in the men's department. Bow ties with shirts, satchels, jackets and boots. It's taking the boy meets girl trend quite literally; but who else is going to buy XXS?

I blame Andrej Pejic. He's the beautifully handsome, androgynous supermodel, who strutted for Marc Jacobs this summer - men's and women's collections. He makes a boxy blazer and brogues look sexy, (as a man or woman). And although 90% of the time you want to believe he’s a woman, Pejic is vastly becoming a strong inspiration in the fashion world for both genders.

And Pejic has no doubt helped secure the androgyny trend in the limelight for another season, as the likes of Dolce & Gabbana, Paul Smith and Topshop have shown for their S/S ’12 collections.

To think, it all started with the innocent boyfriend jean!

http://www.paisleyandpearl.com

Giles Ursell - Online Community Manager

Early application deadline - 15 October 2011

633628722569168436 — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Whether you’re applying for medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine/science, University of Oxford or University of Cambridge, you’ll probably finalising your application in order to get it in for the 15 October deadline.

You might know where and what you want to apply for, that’s one of the important decisions out of the way. However, it’s equally important to make sure that your application is completed correctly and you are 100% happy with this before you send it through to your school or to UCAS directly.

To help you out this year, here at UCAS we have created a couple of new products that hopefully you’ll find beneficial during the application process. The first of these is called UCAS Connect. Here you’ll be able to find answers to any lingering questions you may have in our brand new intuitive FAQ system. You’ll also find top tips and mythbusters, and be able to view videos we’ve created to help you along your UCAS journey.

We’ve also re-designed our UCAStv website. Changes we’ve added/improved include a much easier website to use, the ability to share any of the videos with your friends and the addition of playlists relating to the different stages during the application process.

Therefore, if you need any advice about your UCAS application, please visit the above sites to find those much needed answers. If you have a question you’d like to ask, please leave a message with our online advisers here on yougo, on our Facebook page or via Twitter. If you feel you need to speak to an adviser in more detail, please contact the UCAS customer service unit on 0871 468 0468.

For further information on 15 October deadline, visit here.

Good luck with your application!

Related Links:

UCAS advice on Facebook

UCAS advice on yougofurther

UCAS on Twitter

UCAS Connect

UCAStv

UCAS

Free Tickets: Student Lifestyle Show, 3 & 4 September 2011

633628722569168436 — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 23:00:00 GMT

FREE TICKETS: Earls Court, London 3 & 4 Sep 2011, 10:00am – 17:00pm (UK time)

The Phones 4u Student Lifestyle Show is the essential destination for anyone heading off to university or college and here's your chance to grab your free ticket.

Everything you need to prepare you for your new life at university can be found at the event from books to bean bags, travel to technology, pans to partying - we’ve got it covered! There’s also loads of fun stuff to get involved in with live music, activities, give-aways, goody bags and competitions plus the chance to test your skills as a DJ with Ministry of Sound and meet some of the cast from Hollyoaks at their writing workshop.

Join thousands of other students who like you will be heading off to university in just a few weeks, and get your free ticket now!

Original cost was: £7 pre-registered, £10 on door.

Follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook to learn more about what’s happening with exhibitors, guests and competitions.

To find out more click here

Student Lifestyle Show, 3 & 4 September 2011

633628722569168436 — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Earls Court, London 3 & 4 Sep 2011, 10am – 5pm

The Phones 4u Student Lifestyle Show is the essential destination for anyone heading off to university or college.

Everything you need to prepare you for your new life at university can be found at the event from books to bean bags, travel to technology, pans to partying - we’ve got it covered! There’s also loads of fun stuff to get involved in with live music, activities, give-aways, goody bags and competitions plus the chance to test your skills as a DJ with Ministry of Sound and meet some of the cast from Hollyoaks at their writing workshop.

Join thousands of other students who like you will be heading off to university in just a few weeks, and book your tickets now!

Cost: £7 pre-registered, £10 on door.

Follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook for the chances to win tickets and learn more about what’s happening with exhibitors, guests and competitions.

To find out more click here

Apple

633628722569168436 — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Up to 15% off a new Mac

Here's the deal:

Apple is the sole supplier of the National Higher Education Agreement which means once you have been accepted into university you’ll get up to 15% off the price of a new Mac, up to 10% off Apple software, an extended three-year warranty and one-year AppleCare telephone support.

“If you are in any level of education though, go to the Apple Store to see what education discounts you can get”

A Mac is perfect for student life.

The world’s most advanced operating system - No other operating system offers the innovation and simplicity of Mac OS X. Chat, email, browse the web, watch movies and listen to your favourite tunes.

Even run Windows - If you need to use a particular Windows-only application, Boot Camp comes with every new Mac and lets you run Windows natively. You can even run Mac OS X and Windows side by side.**

On-the-go learning - With iTunes U, you can easily download lectures to watch on your Mac or carry on your iPod or iPhone.

Support for your Mac - Our award-winning AppleCare service offers expert technical support over the phone for your Mac, Mac OS X, iLife and iWork.

iPhoto, iMovie, and GarageBand - iLife is included on every Mac. So out of the box, you can create pro-quality movies, websites, music, photo books, and podcasts.

Tight security - With its rock-solid UNIX foundation and built-in firewall, Mac OS X virtually eliminates wasteful downtime caused by crashes and viruses.

Survey: Finding out what graduates do...

633628722569168436 — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Finding out what graduates do – please complete this short survey:

When you graduate, how would you find out about graduate jobs? Where would you look for information and who do you think should help you?

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit (HECSU) would like to know how you’d search for graduate jobs, research career paths and what you’d expect to find. Please complete their online survey to help them improve how the information is presented in future.

If you would like to know any more about the survey, which is part of a project being carried out on behalf of the Higher Education Funding Council – please contact HECSU on research@hecsu.ac.uk

UCAS applicants to play at Livefest at the O2 London

633628722569168436 — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Talented indie band and UCAS applicants The Dirty Tricks are embarking on the biggest gig of their short career as they wait to play in front of thousands at Livefest at the O2 London.

The band, made up of sixth form students (Tommy, Jack, Joe, Joe, Harry and Sam) aged 16-18 earned their place at the O2 by winning the semi final of the prestigious national Live and Unsigned competition in Portsmouth in front of a 1000 plus strong crowd. You can check out their semi final performance here: http://ow.ly/5J7Si

Now they’ll be performing in the final in front of ten times this amount, surrounded by headline acts consisting of Tinchy Stryder, The Hoosiers and Zane Lowe.

The band originally started as a 5 piece about two years ago; performing Oasis covers and other similar bands music. They soon added a sixth member, and it’s fair to say they haven’t looked back since. They’ve just released their single “The Night” and having reached the final of Livefest, it’s fair to say they’ve come a long way in a short amount of time.

Although the judges will play a big part in deciding the eventual winners, The Dirty Tricks need your help too. The band needs as many votes as possible to support their bid. Simply text unsigned47 to 84222 (texts cost £1.00) and get your vote in.

Related links:

Livefest
Live and Unsigned competition
The Dirty Tricks on Facebook
The Dirty Tricks on Myspace

Applying for a joint honours degree?

davebeer — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Spare a few minutes to help Pure Usability make choosing a university course easier

As part of a project funded by HEFCE (the Higher Education Funding Council for England), Pure Usability are researching and designing a series of standard information sheets ('Key Information Sets' or KISs) that will make it easier for students to choose which course to study at University. We want to make sure that the KISs are really useful, though, and if you're a current or potential applicant thinking about a part-time or joint honours degree you can help us to achieve this by taking part in one of our quick online feedback tests. You can find them at:

http://test.pureusability.co.uk/kis

They're really short (only a few minutes) and quite fun to do. You'll also get a glimpse into the future as well!

Help HEFCE help you, and get a £30 Amazon voucher

633628722569168436 — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 23:00:00 GMT

You can help to make choosing a University course easier – take part in research and get a £30 Amazon voucher!

Pure Usability Ltd, on behalf of HEFCE (the Higher Education Funding Council for England) are designing series of information sheets that will make it easier for students to choose which course to study at University. As part of this process, they need to get a better understanding of how specific pieces of information are likely to be of use to students when choosing a course.

Over the next week or two, they're looking for students to provide feedback on some of the ideas they've come up with. This feedback will be done via an online interview, ideally using Skype, and sessions will last around 30-40 minutes. To take part, you’ll need to be doing your A-levels or an access course and currently considering your University choices.

If you’re interested, please register your interest at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/kis2. Please note that not everyone who signs up will necessarily be able to take part in the research.

They're interested in anyone considering their Uni choices, but particularly keen to hear from yougo members who are considering part-time undergraduate degrees.

If you have any questions about the survey, please contact Stuart Church (stuartc@pureusability.co.uk)

Win yourself a Summer Goodie Bag!

633628722569168436 — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 23:00:00 GMT

You’ve worked hard during your studies, now its exam time and then a well deserved summer break! To celebrate this, we’re giving one lucky male and female yougo’er the opportunity to win a Summer goodie bag filled with all your holiday essentials.

The yougo Summer goodie bags will include iPod Nanos, High Street vouchers, flip flops, CDs, Sun cream, a Beach Towel and much more. You’ll find everything you need to have a great summer holiday!

So, to be in with a chance of winning one of these fantastic goodie bags, hit the “enter” button below! Simple…

One male and female winner will be chosen at random from all entries received.

Closing date for entries is Sunday 10 July, 11.59 pm.

Good luck everyone!

(Terms and Conditions apply)

Universities Week, day 2: Big Ideas for Business

633628722569168436 — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 23:00:00 GMT

It's day 2 of Universities Week and today's theme is "Big ideas for Business"

Today the focus is on the growing relationship between small or mid-size businesses and universities.

Universities and businesses collaborate in thousands of partnerships throughout the country. These relationships help to boost the local economy throughout the UK, giving graduates and students opportunites that otherwise would be hard to find. Universities support start-up organizations through tailored programs, as clients, and as suppliers of their local workforce.

To find out more about Universities week, please visit: http://www.universitiesweek.org.uk

Help out at BeachBreakLive 2011 and enjoy the festival for free

633628722569168436 — Thu, 19 May 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Do you want to go to Beach Break Live 2011 for FREE?

Well, Seed Staff would love to have you on board working with them at Beach Break Live 2011!

All you need to do is sign up through Seed Staff, work 2 or 3 shifts (over the space of 4 days) and in return you will gain a free ticket, 1 free meal per shift and the choice of camping in crew camping. They also have places left in their paid stewarding role, so getting paid is surely an added incentive to get involved in this fantastic opportunity.

There are a limited number of crew roles available. These roles are very popular and are usually on a first come, first serve basis, that had originally been offered to their Beach Breakers. It really is a great way to be part of the festival, work with a brilliant team, see behind the scenes, whilst having enough time off to enjoy yourself and all the BBL festivities.

CLICK HERE to apply.

Places are filling up so if you're interested, get involved NOW.

yougo – Beach Break Live 2011 – Work Experience Competition

admin — Sun, 08 May 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Here’s your opportunity to win an amazing work experience opportunity at the hottest Student Festival of the Summer … BeachBreakLive!

yougo have teamed up with BeachBreakLive to offer work experience in the following areas…

* Event Management, Journalism, Photography and Sound Production

The 4 winners will also receive tickets to the festival for 2 friends and will carry out their work experience at the festival on Friday 17th June.

Sound your thing? Throw your name in the hat for a chance to win this amazing opportunity. Enter the giveaway that most appeals to you:

* Event Management – Enter here

* Journalism – Enter here

* Photography – Enter here

* Sound Production – Enter here

Good luck everyone,

the yougo team.

Competition rules:

Competition opens Monday 9 May and closes Monday 23 May, 11:59

Winners notified by email on Tuesday 24 May by 17:00

All 4 winners to notify us they want the prize by Thursday 26 May, 17:00

There will be one winner for each work experience (4 winners in total)

Each winner will carry out their work experience at the festival on Friday 17th June

Each winner will receive 3 tickets to the festival for them and 2 friends

All winners and their friends have to be 18 or over from 16th June 2011

yougo T&C’s

Win - Journalism work experience at BBL 2011

admin — Sun, 08 May 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Here’s your opportunity to win an amazing work experience opportunity at the hottest Student Festival of the Summer … BeachBreakLive!

Are you interested in a career in Journalism?

This role involves assisting the PR team. The main part of this role will be manning the press office; signing press in, handing out press passes, distributing press releases and helping to create and display the artist interview schedules. There will also be a chance to help with artist interviews.

This role will suit someone who has a genuine interest in going into the world of PR and wishes to gain some great PR experience. It is a high energy role and it is vital that the staff in this role are willing to work long and hard hours and become the face of the festival in the eyes of the press

Throw your name in the hat for a chance to win. Simply hit the enter button below.

Good luck everyone,

the yougo team.

Competition rules:

Competition opens Monday 9 May and closes Monday 23 May, 11:59pm

Winners notified by email on Tuesday 24 May by 17:00

All 4 winners to notify us they want the prize by Thursday 26 May, 17:00

There will be one winner for each work experience (4 winners in total)

Each winner will carry out their work experience at the festival on Friday 17th June

Each winner will receive 3 tickets to the festival for them and 2 friends

All winners and their friends have to be 18 or over from 16th June 2011

yougo T&C’s

Win - Photography work experience at BBL 2011

admin — Sun, 08 May 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Here’s your opportunity to win an amazing work experience opportunity at the hottest Student Festival of the Summer … BeachBreakLive!

Are you interested in a career in Photography?

If you're a budding photographer who always has their trusty snapping device by their side, ready to capture the most stunning, beautiful and interesting shots around then this is for you...

We're looking for talented individuals who are striving to bulk up their professional portfolios with shots of bands and artists as well as all the crazy stuff going on around site.

You'll have access to the press tent to charge your equipment and safety lock-ups to store it all in. Not only this you'll have access to the press pits on every stage on site enabling you to get close and personal to the stars of BBL 2011.. (macro shots at the ready!).

Your pictures will get featured on our website and various other social networking sites, it really is brilliant experience for anyone looking to get into the photographic industry as well as looking fantastic on your CV.

Throw your name in the hat for a chance to win. Simply hit the enter button below.

Good luck everyone,

the yougo team.

Competition rules:

Competition opens Monday 9 May and closes Monday 23 May, 11:59pm

Win - Events Managment work experience at BBL 2011

admin — Sun, 08 May 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Here’s your opportunity to win an amazing work experience opportunity at the hottest Student Festival of the Summer … BeachBreakLive!

Are you interested in a career in Events Management? If you are, here is a good way to check things out. You will be assisting the event production and festival team in the onsite office with anything from putting 20,000 programmes together, to nipping off to the shops to collect riders for artists.

Through this you can gain a great idea of the last minute actions that go into opening a festival as well as the hectic goings on behind the scenes of a festival during the event.

Throw your name in the hat for a chance to win. Simply hit the enter button below.

Good luck everyone,

the yougo team.

Competition rules:

Competition opens Monday 9 May and closes Monday 23 May, 11:59pm

Win - Sound Production work experience at BBL 2011

admin — Sun, 08 May 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Here’s your opportunity to win an amazing work experience opportunity at the hottest Student Festival of the Summer … BeachBreakLive!

Are you interested in a career in Sound Production?

Come and follow one of our top sound engineers from the Academy of Contemporary Music and further your skills and knowledge within the live music industry. Once again ACM will be presenting and running our new music stage ‘Club Tropicana’ and you can be involved in the help of the running of this venue!

We’re looking for music enthusiast that will love to mingle amongst the bands and be quick on their feet to help set up equipment, getting the bands ready for their slots in the quick change over’s. Then heading over to the front of house and learning to control the mixing boards and making sure those bands are sounding just tip top! Here you will gain real world experience through work based shadowing, a work placement at a real show, in a real life situation!

Throw your name in the hat for a chance to win. Simply hit the enter button below.

Good luck everyone,

the yougo team.

Competition rules:

Competition opens Monday 9 May and closes Monday 23 May, 11:59pm

Win - Events Managment work experience at BBL 2011

murry — Sun, 08 May 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Win - Journalism work experience at BBL 2011

murry — Sun, 08 May 2011 23:00:00 GMT