Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education,what assessment she has made of the potential impact of increases in the cost of living on students.

The government recognises the additional cost of living pressures that have arisen this year which have impacted students. The department has not directly assessed the impact of increases in the cost of living on Higher Education (HE) students. The department closely monitors the evidence produced by other organisations and uses this to inform decision-making. For example, the Office for National Statistics’ work on the behaviours, plans, opinions and well-being of students related to the cost of living from the Student Cost of Living Insights Study (SCoLIS) and the Office for Students’ brief, ‘Studying during rises in the cost of living’.

Having considered reports such as these, on 11 January 2023, the department announced a one-off funding boost of £15 million to this year's student premium. There is now £276 million of student premium funding available this academic year to support disadvantaged students who need additional help. This extra funding will complement the help universities are providing through their own bursary, scholarship and hardship support schemes.

Decisions on student support for HE courses are taken on an annual basis and changes for the 2023/24 academic year were made through regulations laid in January 2023. The department has continued to increase maximum loans and grants for living and other costs on an annual basis, with a 2.3% increase for the 2022/23 academic year and a further 2.8% increase for 2023/24.

Furthermore, students who have been awarded a loan for living costs for the 2022/23 academic year that is lower than the maximum, and whose household income for the tax year 2022/23 has dropped by at least 15% compared to the income provided for their original assessment, have been able to apply for their entitlement to be reassessed.

Decisions on student finance have had to be taken alongside other spending priorities to ensure the system remains financially sustainable and the costs of HE are shared fairly between students and taxpayers, not all of whom have benefited from going to university.