Cost of learning crisis leaving young people with second-rate studies, polling finds

• Higher education options severely limited by financial situation, Social Mobility Foundation and LV= polling reveals.
• Cash-strapped university students skip meals, lectures and extracurricular activities—surviving on payday loans and buy now, pay later.
• Students from working-class backgrounds are being hit hardest.
• Social Mobility Foundation and LV= call for extra financial support for the poorest.

More than half (51%) of school or college students planning to attend higher education say their choice of university will be limited by their financial situation.

And once they are at university, nearly half (45%) of undergraduates have skipped meals because they are short of cash.

The alarming findings, released as students across England, Northern Ireland and Wales open their A-Level results and find out their next steps, come from new Unheard Voices polling carried out for the Social Mobility Foundation in partnership with investment, protection, retirement and in-house advice specialist, LV=. 

The polling of 16 to 21-year-olds reveals the struggles faced by A-Level students and undergraduates as the UK’s cost of living crisis continues to bite. It comes after the percentage of young people eligible for free school meals who progressed to university fell for the first time on record last year.

Almost half (47%) of school and college students from working-class backgrounds lack a quiet space to study at home, three in ten (30%) don’t have access to necessary textbooks and revision guides and almost a quarter (23%) don’t have access to a computer for studying.

When asked if they would be able to afford the essentials while at university from student finance alone—regardless of if they lived at home while studying—nearly half (47%) of those from working-class backgrounds said no or that they didn’t know.

Many current undergrads describe struggling to afford the basics. Almost two in ten (17%) have used short-term credit like payday loans or buy now, pay later because of a lack of money.

Those from working-class backgrounds face an even greater struggle. One in four (25%) said they have skipped lectures or other teaching because they couldn’t afford to go.

Nearly two-thirds (60%) have missed out on activities with clubs and societies due to a lack of cash.

And almost half (47%) of students who previously received free school meals said their learning has been negatively impacted by their financial situation.

Aaron Sajed Akhtar, 18, aspiring engineering student and SMF Aspiring Professionals Programme participant from Oldham, said:  

“I’m planning to go to a university close to home and commute for hours each day—not out of choice, but out of fear that I wouldn’t be able to afford to live alone. It’s a symptom of a system that stifles social mobility.

“Education is supposed to be a bridge to a better life, one that everyone has a right to cross. But right now, there’s a toll on that bridge that many can’t afford. The financial burden of surviving on limited support, while balancing a degree and accumulating tens of thousands in debt, leads many—people I personally know—to simply give up on university altogether. The system doesn't just fail to support ambition; it closes off the bridge entirely for those from lower-income backgrounds.”

Sarah Atkinson, Chief Executive of the Social Mobility Foundation, said:   

“Young people from working-class backgrounds are being let down. Their talent is being suppressed by a lack of money—they don’t have the basics needed to thrive at school or at university.

“This is wrong in a country suffering a skills and opportunity crisis. The Government must give all young people the resources to succeed in school and reintroduce maintenance grants for poorer university students so they can spend their degree studying, not struggling.”

Notes to Editors

The Unheard Voices research was carried out by Platypus Research on behalf of the Social Mobility Foundation (SMF), in partnership with LV=. Fieldwork was conducted between June 5th – July 3rd 2025.

2,012 x 15-minute online surveys were conducted with young people aged 16-21 years old. Survey design included consultation with the SMF Youth Advisory Panel. Target quotas plus a modest amount of weighting were used to achieve a robust and representative sample of 16–21-year-olds living in the UK.

The report splits the data by socioeconomic background using the occupation of the young people’s main household earner when they were aged about 14, following guidance from the Social Mobility Commission.

*unweighted bases

For more information on the polling, please see the associated report.

About the Social Mobility Foundation:

The Social Mobility Foundation (SMF) is a national charity that works for a society where people from all social backgrounds can thrive in education and the workplace, and all young people can explore their talents. They support young people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds through their Aspiring Professionals Programme, their Social Mobility Employer Index, and their campaigns work.