Three in five students consider dropping out of university

‘I’ve been skipping lunch every single day at uni just to save money and to be able to buy other things that I would need,’ says one student

Three-quarters of students have previously relied on part-time work to make up the difference – often in a now decimated hospitality industry (Getty Images)

The financial uncertainty disproportionately hitting Britain’s youngest adults has prompted almost 60 per cent of UK students to consider dropping out of their university degrees.

With some students set to begin returning or going to university for the first time this week, pressure and financial support group SavetheStudent has warned that increasing numbers are deeply concerned their finances won’t stand the pressure of such uncertain times.

“That the majority of students have considered dropping out of university is an incredibly sobering revelation, even more so that the driving force is a lack of financial support,” says SavetheStudent’s money specialist Jake Butler.

“This has to be a real wake-up call to the government and British universities who can simply not afford to witness students dropping out in their droves as they attempt to navigate a hugely uncertain future themselves. Students are heavily reliant on income from part-time jobs and their parents to get by, because maintenance loans do not reflect the true costs of student living.”

The group’s figures suggest average living costs amount to £795 per month per student and that the average maintenance loan leaves a £223 gap each month.

Three-quarters of students have previously relied on part-time work to make up the difference – often in a now decimated hospitality industry.

The latest survey on student finances from MoneySuperMarket suggests a fifth of students have turned to high cost payday loans during their time at university to bridge the gap.

The average graduate leaves university with £3,770 of debt, on top of their student loan – up from £3,561 in 2019. Two-thirds of the UK’s most recent graduates are worried about their financial security, the comparison site found.

“I’ve been skipping lunch every single day at uni just to save money and to be able to buy other things that I would need,” one Queen Mary student revealed. And others have taken dramatic action elsewhere. As many as 4 per cent of students say they have turned to sex work to make ends meet, with up to 10 per cent of the UK’s student population willing to consider it.

“With vital top-up sources at increasing risk due to the Covid-19 pandemic, thousands of students this year may have little choice but to drop out of university or turn to alternative ways of earning money such as sex work,” adds Butler.

 “Addressing student funding has to be the highest priority for universities minister Michelle Donelan. Meanwhile, it’s more important than ever for students and parents to be aware of the financial pressures from the outset, so they can plan and budget effectively.”

For those without a traditional support network, the situation is markedly worse.

The Unite Foundation, which provides financial, practical and emotional support for those entering university from the care system or with estranged families, warned this group was at particular risk of dropping out during the current crisis and asked what studying from home is supposed to mean for those without one.

But if students do feel their financial circumstances make studying impossible, their job prospects are equally fragile, particularly against the backdrop of the furlough scheme winddown next month.

New research by think tank the Resolution Foundation found those in their early twenties – the generation usually making up the bulk of workers in hospitality and retail – are most likely to have been furloughed, with a fifth of all employees on the job retention scheme (JRS) under the age of 25.

But because younger workers earn the least on average, JRS spending has been more evenly distributed across different age groups. The average 47-year-old on furlough received the most, at £1,400, in JRS.

Of the £71.5bn worth of crisis income support this year, delivered via the JRS, self-employment income support scheme and boost to universal credit, those in their early thirties and late forties have received the most support overall – at £10.2bn for each age cohort.

The circumstance surrounding this year’s academic cohort, amid significant financial bailouts for some but not others, has reinvigorated calls for government to review the broader financial support made available to students, including calls to return to the fully funded education system that benefitted older workers and retirees.

“Education is a right that students should access freely from cradle to grave, especially considering that without an education one cannot find suitable employment, and the cycle of poverty perpetuates itself,” argues Sara Khan of the National Union of Students.