Students from ‘working-class’ backgrounds in the United Kingdom face a ‘poverty premium’, often paying higher costs in order to access post-16 education, leaving many unable to afford heating and food, according to new research from the National Union of Students’ Poverty Commission.

The report, on working-class students – those from lower socio-economic groups – and the challenges they face throughout post-16 education, calls for a living income for all students.

Shakira Martin, president of the National Union of Students (NUS), said: “The shocking poverty premium is only going to get worse while the system ignores the fact it penalises poorer students for being poor. If sources of student income fail to keep pace with inflation, working-class students will continue to be hit the hardest.”

The report says it provides a unique look at the class-related social barriers and financial issues that are some of the biggest barriers to social mobility in post-16 education. 

It draws on evidence from focus groups, submissions of evidence from further and higher education students, apprentices, students’ unions, experts and agencies. 

It reveals large inequalities around the experiences of working-class students in further education, higher education and apprenticeship and says while many are financial, simply solving the financial crisis many find themselves in will not solve the problem. 

Other key findings include that average student spending routinely exceeds the income available through student support. This leaves many students without the means to pay for food or heating. Student halls routinely exceed what is affordable given the maintenance loan available to students. The pricing policy risks segregating working-class students. 

Rising costs of transport and cuts to bus services make it more difficult for working-class students. 

Working-class students are also most likely to be employed in a job that requires more than the recommended 15 hours per week while studying.

Students are also currently missing out because the means-testing system for student loans has been frozen since 2008.

The report says dropout rates are highest among working-class students, with a third of part-time students leaving before their second year of study and 10.3% of black students. 

Since the dominant culture of higher education is middle class, working-class students can be made to feel they do not belong (feeling disconnected or bullied).

In particular the report outlines a number of recommendations for government and higher education institutions to address the issues raised through the commission.

Recommendations include:

• The introduction of a minimum living income for students.
   
• The reinstatement of entitlement to grant funding, including maintenance grants for undergraduate students.
   
• A review of the operation of means-testing to ensure a fair funding system.
   
• Learning providers should offer practical solutions such as deposit schemes or weekly payments to help lessen the burden of course costs or apprenticeship programmes.
   
• Providing affordable accommodation should be considered as a matter of educational access, and measures to ensure access to affordable accommodation for low-income students should form part of access and retention agreements. 
   
• Universities and colleges should open their doors to part-time learners in other ways than through formal courses.

Martin said: “Being born working class is one of the biggest barriers to education. The government claims to be improving social mobility and tackling poverty but so often forgets to recognise how interrelated poverty and class are.”

She said the importance of the commission was to look beyond the statistics currently available and look at why working-class students struggle to get in and get on in tertiary education. 

“There is now absolutely no excuse for government and institutions not to act as the evidence shows that this problem is systemic and of the most serious nature,” she said. 

“It is particularly concerning that large numbers of those who submitted evidence said they couldn’t afford heating and food. The government must use the funding review to implement the recommendations, so that no student, whether an undergraduate or apprentice, struggles to make ends meet while getting an education.” 

Universities want maintenance grants back

Responding to the report, Professor Dame Janet Beer, president of Universities UK and vice-chancellor of the University of Liverpool, said: “While progress has been made in recent years in supporting and admitting more young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to university, there is still a long way to go. The decline in part-time and mature student entrants is also a clear concern.”

She said Universities UK supports the call to reinstate government maintenance grants, targeted to those students who need them the most. 

“The government’s switch in England from maintenance grants to loans had a more significant impact on those from more disadvantaged backgrounds, who need to take out higher loans for living costs and so have higher lifetime loan repayments,” she said. 

“This financial barrier compounds the academic barriers that already exist for disadvantaged pupils from early years of education onwards. On average, school pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds achieve lower levels of attainment than their more affluent peers.

“We agree also that there should be greater support for those who wish to study more flexibly, and for whom full-time study is not the preferred option. This would help also to reduce barriers.”

University Alliance Chief Executive Maddalaine Ansell said that too often student poverty has been missing from debates about higher education funding. 

“The NUS Poverty Commission report is an important corrective to this, highlighting the challenges which many students – particularly those from working-class backgrounds or studying part-time – face in accessing and succeeding in post-16 education. 

“While there has been progress in widening participation, this evidence suggests that, for many, the day-to-day challenges of meeting basic needs have become greater in recent years,” she said.

Ansell said the government’s ongoing Review of Post-18 Education and Funding must look seriously at the issues raised by the report. 

“There is much good practice across the higher education sector in supporting students from all backgrounds to succeed – the review should seek to build on and incentivise this activity, to make sure no one is held back from making the most of their time studying.”