In higher education policy, most of the political and media focus in the last two decades has been on fees. From the mass protests in the early 2010s, to the 2017 Labour election promise to abolish tuition fees entirely. However, student maintenance, the money students have available to them for day to day living costs, gets much less attention. But maintenance support is what makes the biggest difference to students pockets. With fees in England covered fully by loans, maintenance levels are what determines where students can afford to live, if they need to take on extra paid work, how much they can engage with extra-curricular activities, and for some students – whether they can go to university at all.
Today’s new report, the next in our series of General Election briefings, looks at how the student maintenance system has changed over time, including new evidence on student spending and the sufficiency of maintenance support, particularly for young people from lower income families. It also looks at several options for reform, including costings based on new economic modelling work undertaken by London Economics for the Sutton Trust.
During the ongoing cost of living crisis and recent high levels of inflation, student maintenance loans have failed to keep up with rising costs, creating a major crisis for many students.
Students living away from home (outside of London) who are eligible for the maximum level of support only have access to £9,978 per year. However, Sutton Trust research has found the average student in this group spends £11,400 per year on essentials, far higher than the maximum loan. Essential costs are higher than the maximum loan for 57% of students, and for 19% of students, housing costs alone are higher than the available loan. While better-off families may be able to make up the difference, those from the poorest homes simply will not be able to go to family for financial help.
