funding issues

[ciarmcg]

Is it true that the funding has been secured untill 2015, if so my letter from clyde says I will be given a firm offer once the funding is sorted , now that it is sorted do you think I will be asked to pick my 3 sponsors any day from now as I know a few people who have already been asked to pick there's. I have a conditional just now just hoping that the letter of sponsorship comes soon. any advise or help you can give me would be great.

cheers! ciar.

[Markie93]

I think it is also because of the Uni fee's going up.

[ciarmcg]

oh, is that not sorted yet?

[ramfeild66]

University fees could be up an additional ?4,000 per college phase. The colleges are not releasing their fees until April, but companies like CMT may have a heads up prior to that.

[ciarmcg]

its just beacause someone on here yesterday said they recieved a letter from clyde with the sponsors and were to pick 3 , where as the majority of us are still on a conditional offer

[ramfeild66]

That's why I asked him if the letter had said anything about fees, but my question dissapeared without answer. For me, a 27 year old with a maxed out SLC, a poor credit rating and a part time job I'm screwed if I have to stump up my tuition costs. For you it shouldn't be a problem.

[ciarmcg]

I hope you get in ,have you had a conditional offer aswell?

[elir71]

I've found the uncertainty regarding funding to be the biggest block to my securing sponsorship or even interviews with potential sponsors. I have even approached student finance wales (as I live in Wales) to see if they could "sweeten" the deal, as they do provide ?5000 grant per year and a further ?5000 soft loan to pay for tuition fees at places outside Wales, where a Welsh university cannot provide a course (as is the case with nautical studies). If you already possess a degree (as I do) then this precludes any support from student finance wales, even if the degree you have was funded privately without state support (as was mine).

I don't feel that I fully understand why my already having a degree has any bearing on the financial support that would be received via Smart funding for a cadetship. Perhaps I am not fully aware of all the funding issues. I thought that the finances were as follows :-

... the case of a shipping company
INCOME :- Savings of coroporation tax via tonnage tax allowance (HMRC), Smart funding (MNTB)
EXPENDITURE :- Tuition Fees (College), Accomodation cost (College if paid), Training Allowance (Cadet)

... the case of a training company
INCOME :- payment from shipping company, indirect saving on tonnage tax (HMRC), Smart funding (MNTB)
EXPENDITURE :- Tuition Fees (College), Accomodation cost (College if paid), Training Allowance (Cadet)

I am struggling to understand the (financial) relevance of whether a candidate already possesses a degree . Can anyone enlighten me ?

[ramfeild66]

Well I am completely unable to apply for any student assistance as far as I can disseminate. I have private savings of ?2,000 which I'm hoping to get up to about ?3,000 by September. However, if I can't secure at least close to the full amount I may be required to pay I don't see any reason in starting as my earning potential will be negligible at best once I start on the course.

I imagine the Tories upping the tuition fees means the profit margins are considerably more anaemic now tuition could be up an additional ?12,000 over three years. I heard somewhere the total cost of training a cadet is around ?60,000, although I do not know if that's pre or post the fee raise.

The frustrating thing is that a year ago we'd have been prime candidates as, with no offence to the younger ones here, we're the more likely to make it through the course having had a little more life experience under our belt (although those with families probably make up a significant portion of dropouts also). It seems companies are sticking their eggs in the younger cadet basket, evidenced by the youngest members here getting their offers before anyone post graduate, whilst decreasing their number of places (as both you and I experienced with Maersk). They were swallowing the tuition costs at an expense of ?100,000 per annum, which was what baffled me about the latter interviewees facing improbable odds, seeing as they'd already budgeted for the tuition hike.

I've got contingency plans if I don't get in this year, but I really want to begin so I can qualify when I'm in my early 30's as opposed to my mid 30's, and there's no saying how companies will recruit in the coming years. I can only hope there is a high attrition rate this year and older cadets become a more attractive prospect again as companies will not want to keep sinking their money into flaky cadets. But it may just not pan out that way.

[DaveThePlumber]

I'll type up the letter tonight !

[chris]

The dropout rate has become a bigger problem with the increased competition for cadetships. - I know of at least, 5 cadets who have dropped out since starting in Sept 2010.

As an older cadet I encourage people to get some life experience before applying as I'm sure it reducing your chance of dropping out. Some people have got this experience at 16 and they're ready for the demands of the cadetship, others don't have this at 21 plus.

[elir71]

... this is what surprises me, I would have thought that the probability of someone who has already proven themselves capable of applying themselves to achieve A levels and or degrees, of successfully completing a cadetship would be higher. Of course I couldn't possibly suggest that being an older candidate would have any detrimental effect on the probability of getting a cadetship, as that would be unlawful discrimination.

[ramfeild66]

That's my attitude as an aspiring cadet, and I'd have thought recruiters would have thought the same as well, but alas, the funding issues seem to have turned them off to people in their late 20's+. I'd be interested to see a poll of current aspiring cadets with solid offers for September, because the vast majority seem quite young. I pressed in my Clyde interview that I'd lived and worked abroad and with peoples of all different backgrounds, I think for some of the younger cadets who've perhaps lived at home their whole lives and perhaps rarely been out of their hometown, that being aboard a ship where they may be the only Briton would be incredibly daunting.

Unfortunately, I suppose a lot of the companies are wondering how older cadets will now fund themselves, especially post graduates, which is what I'm wondering also!

[Andy_S]

Well I am completely unable to apply for any student assistance as far as I can disseminate. I have private savings of ?2,000 which I'm hoping to get up to about ?3,000 by September. However, if I can't secure at least close to the full amount I may be required to pay I don't see any reason in starting as my earning potential will be negligible at best once I start on the course.

I imagine the Tories upping the tuition fees means the profit margins are considerably more anaemic now tuition could be up an additional ?12,000 over three years. I heard somewhere the total cost of training a cadet is around ?60,000, although I do not know if that's pre or post the fee raise.

The frustrating thing is that a year ago we'd have been prime candidates as, with no offence to the younger ones here, we're the more likely to make it through the course having had a little more life experience under our belt (although those with families probably make up a significant portion of dropouts also). It seems companies are sticking their eggs in the younger cadet basket, evidenced by the youngest members here getting their offers before anyone post graduate, whilst decreasing their number of places (as both you and I experienced with Maersk). They were swallowing the tuition costs at an expense of ?100,000 per annum, which was what baffled me about the latter interviewees facing improbable odds, seeing as they'd already budgeted for the tuition hike.

I've got contingency plans if I don't get in this year, but I really want to begin so I can qualify when I'm in my early 30's as opposed to my mid 30's, and there's no saying how companies will recruit in the coming years. I can only hope there is a high attrition rate this year and older cadets become a more attractive prospect again as companies will not want to keep sinking their money into flaky cadets. But it may just not pan out that way.

I'm in exactly the same position as you mate. The uncertainty of fees is really not helping sponsors or prospective cadets either. I am also unlikely to be able to get a student loan so if it ended up that the training required a significant amount of cash from the cadets own pocket then it would become hard for me to find the money. If on the other hand the net result is that the cadet has less wages/living allowance after fees and accom deduction then so be.
I am kind of inclined to wait and apply for next year when things might be a little clearer. Or maybe that could backfire and it costs more by then. Who knows!

[elir71]

.... but can someone still shed light on why there seems to be a greater funding problem with respect to people who already hold degrees? or is this a misapprehension on my part ?