Students cut back on food as cost of living soars

Some students had to cut back on food last academic year as the cost of living soared, official research shows.

Careful budgeting was not enough to keep costs down, forcing some students to skip meals, take on debt or dip into savings.

That research had found nine in 10 students were worried about the cost of living.

Meanwhile, food prices have also gone up over the last year. Some wholesale prices have fallen in recent months and supermarkets have been accused of keeping prices higher than they need to be, hitting the pockets of customers.

The ONS said some students had to skip meals or leave the heating off to help with rising costs. Many worked extra hours, sometimes in multiple jobs, or relied on support from family.

Students said they had a poorer university experience as a result, with the rising cost of living affecting their academic performance, skills development, health and wellbeing.

The findings come as a separate survey by website Save the Student showed respondents spent £1,078 per month on living costs, up from £924 a year earlier. Every category of spending had increased, but the biggest was a £21 a month increase in rent.

This is the 11th annual National Student Money Survey by Save the Student and is based on 1,786 filtered responses from university students using the website in the UK.

Harry Rose, a freelancer who is about to start a full-time course, is facing the strain from rising costs. The 19-year-old is moving to study TV production in London, where he says the cost of renting is "atrocious" and costs thousands of pounds more than his maintenance loan.

"Most of the food I buy is on [discounted] yellow stickers," he said. "But I have to make it work, otherwise I'll be homeless."

Recent research by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) found that the majority of university students were doing paid work, and the proportion was rising.

Among them was Clarissa Struthers, 26, who said she worked three jobs to support herself financially while studying for a degree in social work.

She combined lectures with paid work as a nanny, teaching assistant and children's home support worker - often working up to four days per week.

"It affects your grades because you're so tired from working around lectures," she told the BBC in June.

"There are so many things I've cut back on, even thinking about what I can eat when I'm buying food. It's really sad but that's the reality."

Tom Allingham, from Save the Student, said the results of its survey were "troubling" with "huge swathes" of students facing food poverty.

Save the Student said that while maintenance loans had increased in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, the increase of 2.8% in England was insufficient to cover living costs.

That had led to greater numbers accessing university hardship funds, it said.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Education said: "We are supporting universities to help students who are struggling financially by making £276m available this academic year, which institutions can use to top up their own hardship schemes. This is on top of increases to student loans and grants.

"Many universities have done a good job to support students who are struggling financially through a variety of programmes, and we urge students who are worried about their circumstances to speak to their university."

The ONS said bursaries and hardship funds were not open to everyone.