Following headlines about maintenance loans leaving students short on cash every month, Jo Johnson, the Universities minister, has said students need “a frugal existence” in order to get by. 

After being informed about the fact that many students struggle to cover their rent, Johnson said students can work or save, thereby saving their parents from covering the loan shortage. He added that some students “want to live very modestly,” as opposed to “a different lifestyle.”

His comments have come under  fire by Angela Rayner, the Shadow Education Secretary, saying: “Johnson’s ignorance about students’ lives is absolutely breathtaking.”

This comes amid the news  that the government may be bringing back maintenance grants.

Only a year after the move, which generated a large amount of backlash, ministers in the  Department of Education may be planning to reinstate the maintenance grant, according to iNews. 

A senior DofE source told iNews: “we  don’t think it is right that the poorest students come out of university with the most debt.”

Rabeeah Moeen