Further and Higher Education Students: Cost of Living

Carol Monaghan Excerpts

Tuesday 19th September 2023 Westminster Hall

[Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West) (SNP)]

It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship once again this afternoon, Sir George. I thank the hon. Member for Sheffield Central (Paul Blomfield) for securing this important debate as we embark on a new academic term.

The current cost of living crisis has been felt acutely by the student population, who are particularly vulnerable to price rises. Monthly living costs for students have risen by 17%. A recent report by the Higher Education Policy Institute showed that 64% of students were skipping meals to save money and that a quarter of universities have set up food banks for their students, as the hon. Member for Leeds North West (Alex Sobel) mentioned. Ultimately, such pressures can force students out of university and eventually out of the workforce. We cannot afford for that to happen.

The hon. Member for Cambridge (Daniel Zeichner) mentioned international students and the difficulty they have with visa fees. International students who are in the UK with a stipend or have some funding sometimes have restrictions put on them that prevent them from working, so they are incredibly vulnerable and they really have no way out of that situation. Working could affect their visa or their stipend, so they are in a very difficult situation.

I note with concern the recent calls from some hard-right Tory MPs—I hope that the Minister is ignoring them—to block particular low-achieving school pupils from taking out loans that would allow them to continue their studies. It would be useful if the Minister would confirm that he will disregard such calls from that group of MPs.

There has been a big impact on further education as well, and those in further education often come from a more disadvantaged background to start with. The issues around further education have been mentioned by a number of Members, notably the hon. Members for Waveney (Peter Aldous), for Strangford (Jim Shannon) and for Sheffield Central.

The hon. Member for Sheffield Central mentioned the cost of travel, saying that it was more difficult for many students to get to courses, so I hope that he welcomes the recent policy of the Scottish Government that gives every young person up to the age of 22 free bus travel. That has removed so many burdens from that group of youngsters. That is a policy that the UK Government could implement across England and Wales. It would make such a difference to young people, and would not be particularly costly.

The hon. Member for Worcester (Mr Walker) mentioned childcare costs and it is important that we consider that many students have such costs. Being able to access the 30-hour offer would make a big difference to them and enable them to access their university.

Ultimately, everything that we are talking about means that students increasingly find themselves unable to stay on top of their studies. Grades can suffer and in some cases students will drop out altogether. It is notable that new data from the Office for Students affirms that students who were eligible for free school meals are the most likely to drop out of university; in fact, they are almost 10% less likely to complete their courses than students from more affluent backgrounds.

We have heard a lot—from the hon. Member for Cambridge, the right hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne East (Mr Brown) and the hon. Member for Strangford, among others—about increasing maintenance loans to keep up with inflation. The maintenance loan is significantly higher in Scotland than it is in England. That does not mean that it will always be enough, but it is certainly a step in the right direction, and increasing it would be an easy way for the UK Government to support students.

Of course, in Scotland we also have free tuition, because educational mobility should be based on the ability to learn and not on the ability to pay. I have great respect for the hon. Member for Sheffield Central, but he must accept that the Labour party is not in a good position just now on tuition fees, having rolled back its commitment to abolish them. It would be useful to hear where Labour is planning to go with that.