Students in England face ‘negative impact’ from refusal to tie loans to inflation, admits DfE

Raising maintenance loans by only 2.8% means students will have to cut back on food and books, says report

The Department for Education has admitted students in England face a “negative impact” from its refusal to increase support in line with inflation, saying they will have to cut back on food and books as a result.

In an equality analysis of the government’s decision to raise maintenance loans by just 2.8% from autumn, the DfE said student support would have needed to go up by nearly 14% to keep up with the recent rises in the cost of living.