Maintenance loans for poorer students to hit seven-year low

IFS calls on government to rethink how loan increases are calculated for students in England

The real-terms value of government support for the living costs of university students from the poorest families is set to fall to its lowest level in seven years in 2022-23, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has said.

Because increases to the value of maintenance loans will not keep pace with inflation, even students entitled to maximum maintenance loans will receive over £1,000 less than what a 22-year-old would earn if they worked in a minimum wage job instead of studying.