The recent government announcement of an additional £15m for universities to provide hardship funding for students might be worth less than £10 a year per student.
However it is an acknowledgement of the increasing financial difficulties faced by students, who are at risk of becoming one of the forgotten groups in this cost of living crisis.
Students may not top everyone’s list of those most in need of support, as poorer families struggle to feed themselves and pensioners switch off their heating, but many are in real trouble – unable to turn to parents whose own budgets have been hit hard or rely on hospitality and retail jobs in small businesses with their own problems.
