I almost fell off my chair. The Department for Education (DfE) has finally gotten around to publishing findings from its Student Income and Expenditure survey for (home domiciled) students studying in England.
It’s based on a series of earlier surveys undertaken at regular intervals since the mid 1980s, although in recent years we’ve started to see large gaps – the last one was done in 2014-15, which means we’ve shifted from an almost annual exercise in the late 80s to a pretty much parliamentary-cycle cycle now.
The survey tracks the financial position of students and measures the impact of changes in funding and support, and is both a fascinating snapshot into the student condition, and essential data for anyone wanting to advocate for improvements to the student support system.
It’s a confusing picture overall. On the face of it what matters with income and expenditure is the difference between the two – and it looks like students are just about making ends meet, albeit with falls on both sides of the I&E. What that means in detail is much more interesting.
