{"id":5595,"date":"2025-08-20T15:20:46","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T14:20:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jsgroup.co.uk\/?p=5595"},"modified":"2025-08-20T17:45:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T16:45:07","slug":"we-must-tackle-the-living-cost-crisis-facing-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jsgroup.co.uk\/jsgmar26\/news-and-views\/news\/we-must-tackle-the-living-cost-crisis-facing-students\/","title":{"rendered":"We Must Tackle the Living-Cost Crisis Facing Students"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Gemma Linsley<\/strong>, Director of Marketing & Communications<\/em><\/small>
\nJS Group | Transforming the Delivery & Impact of Financial Support<\/small><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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If they\u2019re lucky, that mid-August frenzy when students collect their A\u2011level results, launches them into one of life\u2019s most exciting, transformational but financially stressful chapters. The life of an undergraduate student.\u00a0 New evidence from HEPI, TechnologyOne, and the Centre for Research in social policy lays bare what many clearly already knew, that the maintenance loan simply doesn\u2019t stretch far enough.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Their latest Minimum Income Standard for Students<\/strong> shows that a first-year student in England living in halls needs around \u00a3418 per week<\/strong>, equating to over \u00a320,000 per year<\/strong> just to meet a basic, socially acceptable standard of living. Yet the maximum maintenance loan<\/strong> is nowhere near this level.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Alarmingly, to bridge this gap, even with a full loan, students need to work on average\u00a020 hours per week<\/strong>, severely compromising their ability to engage fully with their studies.<\/p>\n

Similarly, the NatWest student living index further highlights the cost of living issues that today\u2019s students are facing. With 31% of students reducing their meals and 25% cutting their heating use, it is clear to see that this is more than a policy oversight, it\u2019s a barrier to fair access<\/strong>, a threat to student wellbeing<\/strong>, and a risk to social mobility<\/strong>. As the Russell Group highlights<\/a>, without meaningful reform structural inequality and uneven access will persist. Earlier findings from the Save the Student Money Survey<\/a> also underline this picture, with more than four in five respondents reporting that they worry about making ends meet.<\/small><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Supporting Students Means Going Beyond Loans<\/strong><\/h4>\n

At JS Group, we know that supplemental support<\/strong> is essential to bridge the gap, support that is timely, targeted, and rooted in impact.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why we've partnered with Save the Student<\/strong> to launch the Save the Student Bursary<\/strong>, aimed at helping students facing acute living-cost pressures today. Delivered via our Aspire platform<\/strong>, this bursary ensures that the most financially vulnerable students receive funds quickly and efficiently, giving them the breathing space they need to study, socialise, and belong.<\/p>\n

But one bursary isn\u2019t enough. These findings are a call to action for:<\/p>\n