The evidence, as if any was needed, is stark: students across the country are bearing the brunt of our cost of living crisis.

Universities UK has found that two-thirds of students are worried about how they’ll manage their living costs this autumn. Meanwhile, the Student Loans Company has noticed that the number of undergraduates dropping out of university this year has leapt by almost a quarter compared with last year and NUS has discovered that one in 10 students are having to turn to food banks.

As someone who has worked in HE for nearly 30 years – and who started their career in student support services as a counsellor – it pains me to read these headlines, as I’m sure it does you.

I’ve never forgotten the student I heard about in the late 1990s who’d just been diagnosed with scurvy because he’d tried to save money by drying out porridge and turning it into cakes to sustain him for a few weeks until the end of term.

But since becoming Director of Academic Partnerships at the JS Group, I’ve learnt a lot more about how to reach students who need support – financial or otherwise – and what institutions can do to ensure these young people make the most of their time on campus.

It’s not always just a matter of cash

While giving students hard cash can sometimes be the right course of action during financially challenging times, experience has shown me that some times the money goes straight into reducing an overdraft or into a family member’s account, or gets spent in a way that doesn’t continue to facilitate studies. Let’s face it, however much we care about our students we can’t fix their whole lives, what we can do is our best to make their time at university the most life changing, developmental and successful it can be.

Aspire credit schemes, such as those administered by the JS Group, are key when it comes to ensuring funds are used to support students in their studies and help them make the most of their university experience.

A proportion of the money can usefully be reserved for study resources. More than three-quarters of students at one university told us that aspire credit schemes had helped reduce their worries about the cost of course materials and enabled them to fully take part in university life. Funds can also support students with wider parts of student life, for example membership of the university gym, a bicycle to get to campus, or other goods. Harry, for example, who is studying Media and Performance, used some of the funds from his aspire credit scheme to buy pots and pans so that he could cook for himself while at university.

But sometimes only cash will do!

Sometimes, cash is critical, especially in a crisis.  We can also deliver cash funds to students at speed.  We launched the JS Group ‘Aspire Cash’ in October 2021, partnering with the NatWest Bank and their innovative open banking solution called ‘PayIt’.  Our partners are finding the new service really helpful and efficient right now; reducing administrative burden, delivering insight reporting on cash use, and crucially delivering urgent cash funding to students within 30 minutes of the decision.

Lifting students out of digital poverty

Without a decent laptop or tablet, most students are not going to be able to access all that their university has on offer and will be at a serious disadvantage when it comes to their studies.

Increasingly I hear about students accepting that they will have to “make do” with an old device, perhaps one that has been handed down from an older sibling, or who don’t appreciate just how old their device is and feel there are others worse off – when actually they have a significant barrier to full participation.

Of course lockdown brought this issue to the fore. An OfS report from September 2020 suggested that more than half of all students – 52% – struggled with slow or poor wifi and that almost a fifth lacked access to a functioning laptop, computer or tablet.

This is why digital poverty schemes are so important. At the JS Group, we have a long track record of delivering devices and accessories specifically targeted at alleviating this critical need, particularly when we entered lockdowns. We have managed a number of branded and configured device distribution projects, but the majority of these support schemes have involved the delivery of funding ringfenced to the devices that will make a real difference to students, with an element of student choice.

Vouchers to cover immediate living costs

Increasingly, students are unable to pay for the basics.

Isabella, a student at the University of Chester, says she has friends whose landlords have put a low cap on how much of the utility bills they will cover. As a result, she knows of students who are scrimping on heating and even choosing not to turn on lights or cook their food to save money.

Having worked in the sector for a long time, I remember when students had maintenance grants. Now financial support primarily comes from Government loans and it’s often just not enough. More than a third of students now find themselves running out of money well before the end of term.

At the JS Group, we’ve seen increasing numbers of universities respond to this by delivering vouchers that help students with their immediate living costs.

This is of course to be applauded, but universities need to make sure they aren’t spending too much time and money administering these schemes. After all, the money saved could go towards the next tranche of hardship funds.

We have come up with an innovative way for students to receive bursaries and cost of living vouchers (e.g. food and mobile data vouchers) in seconds, rather than days, reducing the administrative burden and friction for students in need.

As we in the sector know, the UK’s 2.66 million students contribute in a multitude of ways towards the improvement of our society. It is in all our interests for them to make the most out of their time at university and that means helping them, where we can, with tried-and-tested ways through this cost of living crisis.

At the JS Group, we’ve worked with more than 35 universities over 15 years to help over 1m students get the support and resources they need to make the best of their time at university.

If you think we could help you, or your institution, please contact me on  julie.walkling@jsgroup.co.uk

Julie Walkling is the Director of Academic Partnerships at the JS Group. She has worked in HE since 1995 and held positions at Director, Executive and Board level.