Digital Editor Cara-Louise Scott reports on how cost of living crisis inflations are driving away prospective students from university
The National Union of Students (NUS) have said that there is a growing concern about how the cost of living crisis might impact their members this coming semester.
This comes after student leaders have warned that A-level students who have tackled disruption from Covid-19 for the past 2 years and received tougher marked grades could face the decision of dropping out of university because of financial problems.
The higher education vice-president for NUS, Chloe Fields has said that: ‘We’re seeing students faced with difficult choices. They’re struggling to make rent and taking on extra paid work to see themselves through university, which is leaving them with little time to get the most of student life.’ The NUS Student Cost of Living Survey revealed that one in three students were living on £50 or less a month after paying rent and bills
The NUS Student Cost of Living Survey revealed that one in three students were living on £50 or less a month after paying rent and bills. 51% of those said that their student loan did not cover a weekly food shop and 64% even said that it did not cover energy bills.
According to another NUS Survey on accommodation costs, it was found that the average cost of student rent has risen 61% in the last decade.
NUS fear that if rent and bills continue to rise, students will not be able to afford the cost of living, and thus, they are calling on the Government to provide additional grants to help students cope with these ever-growing costs so that their focus isn’t on surviving, but on their studies instead.
Recent figures from the Students Loans Company also show that a total of 18,451 students had dropped out of their courses by February 2022, a huge increase on the previous three years. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) warned that financial support for students is not keeping up with the rocketing inflation. The results show that 87% of students have struggled in some way with living costs during their university experience.
Redbrick conducted an informal poll on Fab N Fresh, a Facebook page for University of Birmingham students, asking them ‘Has the cost of living crisis affected your university experience?’
From the 126 answers, the majority, which was 63%, said that ‘yes, in little ways.’ The second largest votes were 24% for ‘yes, massively – I’ve had to make huge cuts when socialising and food shopping etc.’
The results show that 87% of students have struggled in some way with living costs during their university experience. Only 3% said that ‘no, not at all’, and 8% said no but that ‘I think it will for future students.’ This may show that the cost of living crisis could be worse for those who are soon to be starting their university experience as costs of energy bills, fuel, and rent are continuously rising.
An increasing number of university students are expected to choose to live at home because of the rising costs which make it too expensive for them to move out into overpriced student accommodation with high energy bills. Many may choose university options close to their family home too so they can save money.
A Department for Education spokesperson has said: ‘We have continued to increase support for living costs on an annual basis for students from the lowest-income households since the start of the pandemic. We also asked the Office for Students to protect the £256m available to support disadvantaged students and those in need for the current financial year.’
Check out more from Redbrick News here:
Liz Truss Announces ‘Six-Point Strategy’ to Alter Britain’s Education System
Comments