Josh was a talented bricklaying student with dreams of running his own building firm. Then his mother lost one of her part-time jobs, forcing them to request financial support from his school, Hartlepool College of Further Education. Josh – not his real name – got a part-time cash-in-hand job and, after his attendance started waning and he struggled to focus at college, he dropped out altogether.
Hartlepool’s principal, Darren Hankey, says colleges across the country are dealing with students like Josh daily, a claim backed up by our investigation showing how more students have quit college since the cost of living crisis began, with support staff feeling “overwhelmed” amid spiralling demand for their services.
Every one of the 18 colleges responding to a survey for FE Week by the National Association for Managers of Students Services saw demand for their support services rise in the last year, with half seeing demand increase by more than 20 per cent.
Growing demand is piling more pressure on overstretched staff and student welfare budgets. Only 2 of the 63 colleges (3 per cent) that responded to an FE Week freedom of information request saidthey were planning to increase their student services budgets this financial year, with the same percentage cutting the resource and the rest maintaining it for now.
