UK students ‘at sharp end’ of cost-of-living crisis

The UK’s National Union of Students (NUS) has called for the chancellor to do more to help with the rising cost of living after its survey found almost all students are now having to make cutbacks.

Ninety-six per cent of those surveyed by the NUS say they are actively trying to save money, with half slashing spending on essentials such as food and heating their homes.

Financial worries are increasingly having a major impact on students’ mental health, the NUS said, with rising costs leaving a quarter of students surviving on less than £50 a month after covering rent and bills, and 42 per cent surviving off less than £100.

Confidence in the government has fallen ever lower as a result, with just 7 per cent of students polled saying ministers have done enough to help them, lower than when the survey was last conducted in June.

The ability of families to help students in need was also dwindling, NUS found, with 77 per cent saying the cost-of-living crisis had affected the income of someone who supports them financially.

NUS said more than 1,000 people had written to their MPs to demand urgent action is taken in the 16 November autumn statement to support students with rising living costs.

It called for maintenance support – which has risen by just 2.3 per cent this year – to be tied to inflation and for students to be given access to funds under the government’s Universal Credit scheme.

A cap on student rent, more money for hardship funds and adjusted maintenance loan thresholds to reflect changes to family income were among other suggestions made.

Chloe Field, the NUS’ vice-president for higher education, said the “message from students could not be clearer” ahead of the statement, which could also bring cuts to research spending.

“The government must take action urgently to relieve the pressure and implement our proposals,” she said. “Until they do, institutions must step in to support their students with the cost of food, rent, and energy. Students are our future nurses, teachers, and other key workers, and we need support now to protect everyone’s future.”

Responding to the NUS report, the University and College Union general secretary Jo Grady – whose members are about to hold three days of strike action – said students were “living at the sharp end of a cost-of-living crisis” when being at university “should be a joyous experience”.

She said support from universities has been “patchy and piecemeal” and that the situation was a “damning indictment of a higher education system that works for neither staff nor students”.

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com