A new report from the JS group collates survey data from 4,168 students who have received hardship funding via the Aspire platform and offers insight into how this funding has been utilised.
The students surveyed come from 11 different universities across the UK including one Russell Group institution, two small and specialist institutions and three new universities.
It is evident from the report that there are a vast number of reasons students may seek hardship funding from bereavement, job losses, unexpected bills or other crisis-situations. For others the funding is smaller and a top up to wages and student loans that do not cover living costs or may allow a student to participate in activities they may not otherwise have been able to afford. For instance, one student who is a young caregiver for a disabled parent said the additional funding gave them peace of mind to focus on their own learning and growth instead of worrying about money and taking on additional work in the time they should have been using to study.
Other recipients praised the additional funding as it allowed them to spend more time on campus as they could afford to purchase and/or run a car when transport links from their home to campus were difficult or it allowed them to pay for public transport. As one respondent put it, because of the scheme they could afford to come to campus and “socialise more with friends I met in a society, This has helped me gain more confidence and encouraged me to try new things.”
Others mentioned that it paid for essential travel to and from their placements. It’s worth SUs working with academic reps for courses that are more likely to have placements, like medical-related courses, to ensure those students are aware of any support available.
It is also clear that hardship funding or bursaries being granted without parameters of how a student can spend them was especially important. Additionally students valued the speed at which funds could be delivered within the same day on the Aspire platform as it allowed them to pay emergency bills or eat that day.
85 per cent of respondents said that the ability to choose when and how to withdraw hardship funding helped them to budget, and empowering them to spend the money in whatever way is most useful to them. It is clear that whatever SUs and universities can do to not include stipulations on how a student must spend a bursary the better and allows students receiving support to feel equal and “normal” like their peers who do not need financial support.
“Allowed me freedom with what to spend my money on, [I] didn’t have to pick between groceries or travel.”
Of those surveyed, 14 per cent had used foodbanks and 13 per cent had experienced homelessness. Many of the quotes included in the report reiterate the importance of the funding in a students’ survival, let alone ability to continue studying. For instance one said that they “stopped eating because [they] couldn’t afford it. [The funding] helped me not to be depressed, allowed me to continue studies and be productive, and got me out of despair.”
A useful thread for SUs negotiating with their institution on the amount of hardship funding currently available was throughout the feedback in this report students who received support felt immense gratitude to their institution and reported a generally more positive view of their institution as a whole.
