Last month the Department for Education announced that maintenance loans and postgraduate support loans would be increasing by just 2.8% for the 2023-34 academic year. This is significantly lower than the current rate of inflation (10.7%) and would mean that students will be over £1,500 worse off in real terms than they are today. This is a significant reduction in funding for students, and alongside mounting financial pressure next year, will push even more students into poverty. Students deserve to be able to thrive in their studies without worrying about being able to meet their basic needs like bills, food, and travel.
Students deserve to be able to thrive in their studies without worrying about being able to meet their basic needs like bills, food, and travel.
The Government’s own Equality Impact Assessment found that the “proposed changes will overall have a negative impact for students” as the 2.8% increase “will not restore the erosion in purchasing power since 2020/21 and is unlikely to prevent a further erosion in purchasing power by the start of the 2023/24 academic year”. This shows that the current Government know that this is simply not enough for students, and yet are seemingly unwilling to help.
Sign the petition
We know how the cost-of-living crisis is impacting your experience at UCL. So far, the responses to our Cost-of-Living survey (which is open until 20 February), show that 96% of you have seen your cost-of-living increase in the last 12 months. 1 in 5 UCL students who have responded are regularly going without food or necessities because they cannot afford them and more than 30% do not feel confident that they have enough money to cover their basic cost of living (food, bills, rents, travel expenses).
Together with UCL, we are providing direct financial support to students who are unable to meet their basic living costs - including emergency funding for food, travel and bills. We’re keeping our Cost of Learning page up to date so have a look to see how things are developing and what support is available.
We are doing what we can to help you – but we think the government needs to be doing more for students in this Cost-of-Living crisis. You can sign this petition if you agree that student maintenance loans should increase, and you can share your experiences with the Cost of living crisis (and be in with a chance of winning one of twenty £100 vouchers).