In recent times, much emphasis has rightly been placed on debating the way that universities are funded, with the policy direction changing substantially as a result of the Browne Review and the election of the current coalition government.

But this has meant that not enough attention has been paid to issues of student financial support – the pound in students’ pockets.

We want to investigate the costs faced by students today, and the impact of the complex range of support measures available to them, finding out if the right people are getting the right help, in the right way.

We will look at international comparisons, putting to the test the often-made point about England’s support system being the most generous in the world.

We want to involve students and students’ unions in carrying out research into under-examined corners of the financial landscape for students so we can get a real sense of how financial pressures impact on students in all their diversity.

Survey Launch

We have launched a major membership-wide research project, looking at the experiences of students in schools, colleges and universities in England, from undergraduate up to postgraduate research. We want to know what the experience is of support, how it effects participation, performance and well-being.

We will present an alternative to the current piecemeal set of support systems, and we need your help to do it, to let us know what matters and help us to shape the future of student support.

We have released a survey which will ask you questions about how you fund your living costs whilst studying and what you think of the support you receive. So, if you are studying for your degree, masters, PHD, If you are an apprentice, or on any course at a college or other learning provider in England, then we want to hear from you about what you think works well - and what might need changing - about how you are supported.

To thank you for your time we will enter you into a draw to win a cash prize of £500 or one of ten £50 cash prizes.

The survey should take around 20 minutes to complete and can be completed confidentially.

Take part in the survey today!