Students are abandoning their plans to go to university, says survey, after maintenance grants were scrapped by George Osborne

51 per cent say they’ll now have to seriously consider whether they’ll be able to afford uni

(Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

A fifth of students are abandoning their hopes of going to university in the wake of Chancellor George Osborne’s plans to scrap maintenance grants, a new survey has found.

From the 5,722 students polled by The Student Room, the 19 per cent said it won’t be affordable for them anymore following the announcement the grant will be turned into a loan from September 2016.

Another 51 per cent said they’ll now have to seriously consider whether they’ll be able to afford it with a further 28 per cent saying that, if they do decide to go, they’ll have to live with parents and family.

Community director of The Student Room, Jack Wallington, said the cost of university is already a concern for many students and added: “We constantly hear from our members that debt is an issue that keeps them awake at night.”

With over 66 per cent of students saying they don’t want to be saddled with debt and would rather get on and start earning money, it seems there may be a major – and worrying – shift about to occur within higher education in the UK: