Cost of living: "I decided it was much easier to live at home"
A Liverpool university student tells us why she's decided to live at home instead of staying in halls
A Liverpool university student has been telling us how she has abandoned plans to stay in halls for her third year because of the cost of living crisis.
Olivia Shaw has decided to live at home instead.
She said:
"I moved into university halls last year in September and I really enjoyed it at first, I felt like I was more social, but I found that it was really expensive doing my own shopping and paying rent on top of that.
"I decided within a couple of months of living there (in halls) that I was going to move back home next year as it was much easier to just commute on the bus and it would cost me a lot less and I wouldn't have to down my own shopping as much.
"It was much easier to live at home instead"
"I just decided that, with the cost of living, it was much easier to live at home instead."
Olivia is one of many students across Merseyside and across the country whose university experience has been affected by rising living costs.
A recent survey from the Open University found that close to half of all school leavers are reconsidering going to university because of the rising cost of living.
It also revealed that 31% of school leavers think university is unaffordable.
Cassie Ward also goes to university in Liverpool and has a job alongside her studies.
Cassie said:
"My loan is only quite small, so I couldn't live off my loan. Having my job and having that behind me, it allows me to do everything else that I want to do.
"£1,000 every term isn't going to get you far, it's £1,000 every four months. That does not stretch. Going out for meals, going out with your friends, it doesn't cover a lot.
"Having a job, you're juggling between getting your uni work on time (and your job). I work about four to five days a week, but it's like how am I going to get that (work) in on time if I'm working four days and then sometimes it's travelling after uni to work and some days you get kept behind maybe half-an-hour and it's kind of trying to get in on time.
"Having a job does get in the way of your uni experience, but at the end of the day, I wouldn't be able to the stuff that I do if I didn't have the job.
"How would I get to uni if I didn't have a job?"
"How would I get to uni if I didn't have a job? Money has got to come from somewhere.
"I get the train and train prices are extortionate these days as well so it's like £4 to get to uni every day."