Further education students in England are struggling in “extreme poverty”, forced to work excessive hours in insecure jobs to support themselves and their families and falling behind with their studies as a result, according to a report.
FE colleges say they are seeing students in “financial desperation”, often dressed in the same clothes for days on end and struggling at home where family tensions and domestic abuse are on the increase during the cost of living crisis.
There has been a fall in attendance, with some students dropping out altogether, and an increase in safeguarding concerns involving criminal and sexual exploitation of the most vulnerable students who “are often drawn into lawbreaking because of financial destitution”.
There has also been a “massive” increase in students requesting bursary support, the report says. At Hartlepool College, 95% of the 16- to 18-year-old cohort of students applied for a bursary this year, compared with 65% last year.
The report by the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for students said a decade of cumulative funding cuts in FE meant colleges did not have the resources to meet growing need among students, many of whom also have mental health issues.
