Students are missing meals and balancing multiple jobs because financial support provided through maintenance loans is failing to cover basic living costs, a report has warned.
Any upcoming government reforms to student finance should explicitly include boosts to maintenance funding to assist students struggling with the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, the report advised.
A survey from Save the Student found that nearly two-thirds of students (63%) miss meals occasionally to save money, with 9% turning to food banks during the 2025/26 academic year.
The research also revealed that more than one in four students (28%) hold at least two jobs, while almost half (46%) have considered dropping out of university altogether because of financial difficulties.
Tom Allingham, Save the Student’s student money expert, said: “Maintenance loans have always fallen short of living costs, but this has become exponentially worse in recent years.
“In previous generations, that might have meant skipping one or two nights out or living on baked beans for a few days.
“Today, following significant real-terms cuts, almost two-thirds of respondents are skipping meals to save money, over a quarter work two or more jobs, and countless others speak of extreme social isolation due to financial pressures.”
University students are spending an average of £1,146 a month, leaving them with an average shortfall of £467 a month, the survey has suggested.
It found that more than three in four (77%) students surveyed are worried about their student loan repayments.
More than nine in 10 (91%) students said they think at least one change should be made to student loan repayments.
A report by the Commons Treasury Committee in July called on the Government to scrap the three-year threshold freeze for graduates repaying their student loans.
Ministers have faced criticism for how they have handled repayment terms for graduates, in particular those with so-called “plan 2” loans taken out between September 1 2012 and July 31 2023 in England.
At the budget in October, the Chancellor froze the salary threshold at which graduates repay the loan for three years from 2027.
From next year, they will pay back 9% of everything they earn above £29,385 until 2030.
Graduates will likely be left worse off as a result, as the threshold would have otherwise risen with inflation.
Dame Meg Hillier, the Labour MP who chairs the Commons Treasury Committee, urged the Government to “reconsider” the threshold freeze.
She told MPs in the Commons on Tuesday: “This is a cohort of students already facing huge pressures on housing costs, facing pressures paying into pensions, the generation that is helping to grow Britain, that is working to deliver essential jobs in our in our economy, helping to grow that economy, the generation that will pay for the NHS and the ageing population.”
Mr Allingham added: “We’re calling on the Government not to ignore the plight of current students, and to ensure any student loan reforms include increasing maintenance funding to catch up with inflation.”
Vivienne Stern, chief executive of Universities UK (UUK), said: “Any student who is worried about their finances should know they are not alone; they can reach out to their university’s student support service which will be able to help.
“Universities are primed with advice and can assist with essentials; they also have initiatives such as hardship funds, bursaries and discounted meal schemes which can support students.
“The Government must review its maintenance thresholds in England, to better help students from all backgrounds thrive in their university careers.”
Tom Gordon, the Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, has proposed a review of the student finance system in England.
Mr Gordon, who said he faces a student loans bill of more than £65,000, warned he had heard from doctors who had refused extra shifts because, “once higher tax rates added, national insurance and the student loan repayments, they keep less than half of every extra pound”.
He told the Commons on Tuesday: “At a time where our NHS is calling out for extra staff and extra support, we are punishing those very people for trying to work harder.”
Save the Student’s National Student Money Survey was conducted between May and August and received 1,419 responses from undergraduate students.
