The report identifies the urgent challenges facing universities today, as well as proposing solutions based on over 30 written submissions from students’ unions, universities, sector bodies, and individual experts.
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Read the full report here.
The APPG, chaired by Alex Sobel MP, identifies student poverty as one of the main challenges facing universities today. Students’ financial situations and their ability to succeed in their studies are inherently linked; without proper financial support, they have to work long hours alongside their studies, meaning they cannot reach their full potential academically. This can have a lifelong impact on the jobs they are able to procure. Other identified challenges include: high cost of rents, mental ill-health, and a lack of teaching of employable skills. |
The report includes a list of recommendations for both the government and universities over issues such as Access and Student Outcomes, High Quality Teaching, and Student Funding including:
- Implementing a stepped repayment model where graduates pay 2% on earnings between £12,570-£27,570 up to 8% of earnings of £57,571 or more. This system would have almost identical Exchequer costs but eliminates the most regressive features in the current fees and funding system.
- Reintroduce maintenance grants to ensure that low income students don’t end up graduating with a higher debt burden
- Increase maintenance funding in line with the cost of living annually, and ensure that student rent rises are less than this each year.
- Create a minimum student income linked to the living wage, which rises in line with inflation
- Review and improve current mechanisms for determining the level of maintenance a student is entitled to (such as household income thresholds, and the age at which a student is considered to be independent)
