Survival, not study: Report claims students “overwhelmed” by cost-of-living crisis
From £1,200-a-month bills to rising tuition fees and sky-high Tube fare—how can Britain’s young people hope for a fair future when they’re already crippled by money worries?
For generations, university life has been painted as the “best years of your life”—a time of learning, discovery and independence. But for today’s students, particularly in London, it looks more like a relentless battle with spiralling bills, rising tuition fees and the punishing cost of simply getting to class.
Constantly struggling
Take University of East London student Thomas Murch. Like many of the 500,000-plus young people studying in the capital, Thomas admits he is constantly struggling to stay afloat financially. “The cost of living has increased a lot, so doing the things I would normally do requires more money, and it’s very hard for me to balance the wants with the needs”, he said.
And he is far from alone. A recent National Student Money Survey found that students in London now spend a staggering £1,269 a month just covering essentials like rent, food and bills. To make matters worse, tuition fees have quietly risen from £9,250 to £9,535 a year—the first increase since 2017. For students already scraping by, it feels like yet another kick in the teeth.
Overwhelmed
According to research by Visa, 84% of London students say they feel “overwhelmed” when it comes to managing their money. Small wonder, when a single Tube journey can cost up to £3.80—making London’s transport system the most expensive of any major city in the world.
Students like UEL undergraduate Viga Lukita say they are forced to travel off-peak and cling to discounted Oyster cards just to save a few pennies. Others scour supermarkets for yellow-sticker bargains, resell old clothes online, or collect reward points to shave off costs where they can.
But should our young people really be expected to survive this way? Scrambling for leftover food and rationing travel just to get an education?
Private education privilege
The situation is particularly alarming given that, as the Sutton Trust recently warned, Britain’s top jobs are still dominated by the privately educated—with those who went to fee-paying schools five times more likely to end up in positions of power. If working-class students are being priced out of higher education, how can they possibly compete for those roles?
At UEL, where 77% of students come from the UK’s most deprived households, Vice-Chancellor Professor Amanda Broderick says talent is everywhere—but opportunity is not. The university hands out more than £7m a year in bursaries and hardship funds, runs financial literacy courses and even provides a “student larder” to help with essentials.
Maintenance loans fall short
Even the loans that students can take out to cover costs don’t really help. Student newspaper The Tab recently did some back-of-the-envelope maths to figure out how much money students are short each month at Russell Group universities after living expenses had eaten into maintenance loans.
At the CHEAPEST of the universities—the University of Liverpool—students were short by £376 per month (with £448 of living costs, £568 of living costs). The five most expensive contenders were:
University of Edinburgh – short by £877 (£701 of living costs, £816 of rent)
University College London (UCL) – short by £1,084 (£540 of living costs, £1,184 of rent)
Queen Mary University of London – short by £1,118 (£574 of living costs, £1,184 of rent)
Imperial College London – short by £1,319 (£775 of living costs, £1,184 of rent)
King’s College London (KCL) – short by £1,450 (£906 of living costs, £1,184 of rent)
Future crisis
And therein lies the crisis: Britain’s young people, supposedly preparing for their futures, are instead consumed with survival. How can they dream big, innovate, or challenge the old guard if their days are spent counting pennies?
If the government doesn’t act soon, we risk raising a generation of students so weighed down by financial pressures that their futures are decided before they even begin.