More than a quarter of UK students are skipping meals and 24 per cent say they might not finish their degrees because of the financial pressures wrought by the cost-of-living crisis, according to new polling.
Education charity the Sutton Trust said the findings of its research were “scandalous”, pointing out that the extra money recently announced for student hardship funding by the Westminster government amounts to only £67 per student.
The polling company Savanta surveyed 1,050 students on behalf of the trust and found that:
- A quarter (24 per cent) of students say they are less likely to finish their degree as a result of the cost-of-living crisis
- Nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) report spending less on food and essentials, with more than a quarter (28 per cent) saying they have skipped meals to save on food costs
- Students from lower socio-economic backgrounds are more likely to report skipping meals (33 per cent for students from working-class families, compared with 24 per cent of middle-class students).
