Going to university ‘costs an extra £56K’ on top of students loans

Students now need up to £56,000 to get them through university even after taking out student loans, a think tank has found.

The Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) found rising costs are increasing the burden on families of sending their child to study away from home.

A family hoping to support three children through degrees would have to find up to £168,000.

While everyone gets loans to cover the full cost of tuition fees, maintenance loans for living expenses may only cover as little as a quarter of the cost.

It means families need to start saving early if they want their child to be financially comfortable during their studies.

The figures come ahead of A-level results day on Thursday, when hundreds of thousands of pupils find out if they have secured their first choice university.

Those whose parents are unable help them financially this September will have to find part-time work to make ends meet, the report suggests.

Nick Hillman director of Hepi, said: ‘It is regrettable that we have had to calculate these numbers as, in an ideal world, there would already be a deep understanding of the true cost of being a student in the corridors of power.

‘If there were, then student maintenance support would likely better reflect the actual costs of studying in 2025.

‘Maintenance support is currently woefully inadequate, leading students to live in substandard ways, to take on a dangerous number of hours of paid employment on top of their full-time studies or to take out commercial debts at high interest rates.’

The report found that including annual fees of £9,250, a standard three-year degree in England costs £90,000, or over £100,000 if the course is in London.

When looking at living expenses alone, the cost is £61,000 for outside London and £77,000 for London.

Maintenance loans are means-tested, and all families with a household income of more than £70,000 – so £35,000 per parent – only qualify for the minimum amount.

Annually, this is £4,915 for outside London and £6,853 for London – so £14,745 and £20,559 respectively over a three-year degree.

This leaves a shortfall of £46,000 outside London and £56,000 for London.

For households on the very lowest incomes – £25,000 or less – annual maintenance loans are only £10,544 for outside London and £13,762 for London.

This means they only cover half the costs of a three-year degree.

The report produced a ‘minimum income standard for students’ based on focus groups with students in university cities.

These were used to price up a minimum basket of goods and services for students including rent, food, bills, socialising and study resources.

It was written in collaboration with the Centre for Research in Social Policy (CRSP) at Loughborough University.

There are no comparable figures from last year.

It noted first years have higher costs due to ‘settling in expenses’ such as a laptop, kitchen equipment, bedding and freshers’ week activities.

Author Josh Freeman said students from poor backgrounds were being held back by the current system.

He added: ‘The harm students currently face cannot be overstated.

‘There is a moral imperative to give students a fair chance of succeeding and thriving in higher education.’

A Government spokesman said: ‘We are committed to fixing the foundations of higher education to deliver change for students, and we will soon publish our plans for reform as part of the Post-16 Education and Skills Strategy White Paper.

‘We recognise students’ concerns about the cost of living and accommodation, and are working to ensure universities and councils take the right approach to student housing needs. Through our Renters’ Rights Bill, we’ll provide increased security and flexibility.

‘We have increased maximum loans for living costs for the 2025/26 academic year by 3.1 per cent in line with inflation, targeting the largest amount of support to students from the lowest income families to break down barriers to opportunity through our Plan for Change.’