Students: don’t suffer financial worries in silence

Sponsored by Future Finance

Economic hardship can be a reality for many people unused to managing their own finances. But there is lots of help and support available.

The cliché of the impoverished student, diligently working away wrapped in threadbare jumpers, is well-established. Yet for some students financial hardship can affect their studies, or drive them towards some unwise choices when it comes to making ends meet.

Holly Ilett, student success adviser at Hull University Business School, says that getting to grips with finances can be tricky for new students. “While they might have been able to budget a weekly spend of money earned from a Saturday job – for clothes, coffee and going out – making their loan stretch to mobile phone contracts, food, accommodation and everything else is more difficult.”

Students might have other problems such as late loan payments, Ilett continues, with international students also struggling with an unfamiliar currency and fluctuating exchange rates. Support services are available and the university has set up an online budgeting tool (hullmoneydoctors.co.uk), she says. “We are ready to help, but gaining visibility of these kind of difficulties, especially when students may choose to suffer in silence, is difficult.”

Students can indeed be reluctant to admit to financial troubles, let alone to what they are doing to supplement their income (anecdotal evidence suggests anything from writing online product reviews to clinical trials, with student forums often featuring worried discussions of credit card use). A recent survey of 1,000 UK students commissioned by Future Finance found that while nearly two thirds get extra money from part time work, 24 per cent gamble to supplement their finances, and nearly 13 per cent have taken part in clinical trials. A quarter of those surveyed had money outstanding to a payday lender.

The latest Graduate Labour Market Statistics (from March this year) suggest that university can still be a valuable investment, with graduates gaining an average earnings premium of £9,000 per year. “Graduates enjoy a lifetime of better employment prospects,” says Brian Norton, chief executive of Future Finance. “However, our survey makes it plain that the growing gap between the costs of education and available funding sources is still leading students to make bad choices.”

Robin Fowler is the student money advice and rights team coordinator at the University of Derby and hears of various ways students fill any financial gap, including working part time or seeking help from family and friends. “Others without access to support will use credit cards, pay day loans and doorstep lenders,” he says. “This is more prominent with mature students with dependents and existing financial commitments, with less access to ‘good’ credit.”

His message, and that of other universities, is clear: if you’re struggling, speak up. “Students should always contact the appropriate service within their University. Most universities offer discretionary hardship support and the Student’s Union can also advise.”

Don't lose sleep over your finances - support teams can offer sound advice, concludes Ilett. “They are experienced and trained to help with sensitive issues such as financial hardship.”

This article was created by the Independent and sponsored by Future Finance. Future Finance is a specialist student lender who believes that no qualified student should be denied higher education solely for financial reasons. Future Finance provides loans between £2,500 and £40,000 for tuition fees and cost of living expenses to undergrad and postgrad; part-time and full-time, second degree and international students. Representative 11.3% APR (variable). Security may be required by the way of a guaranty.

Learn more at ind.financemyfuture.co.uk/