St Andrews uni students turning to foodbanks amid cost of living crisis
There are calls for more support to be offered to students
Students at one of the UK's wealthiest universities are being forced to turn to foodbanks due to the cost of living crisis.
The University of St Andrews esteemed for its lavish campus, and having royals enrol to study, is now seeing students struggling to feed themselves.
Barry Will, from Dundee, studies at St Andrews and runs the Campaign for Affordable Student Housing.
He also organised setting up the foodbank for his fellow students.
Mr Will said: "We have students come through our service as they're unable to afford to feed themselves just now because of this crisis and are expected to go into a lecture to study.
"Students get a lot of slack when it comes to finances, but, we're in a crisis just now and we're talking about our future engineers, doctors, and when they can't afford to buy food it is a massive crisis for the future of our economy and country.
He added "If we don't see some support come into help the lowest income students it just means the richer students are going to get better grades, better jobs and therefore the landscape will never change if this continues".
One in four students drop out of degrees due to financial costs
In a separate report, by the Sutton Trust, its claimed nearly one in four students say they are less likely to finish their degrees as a result of the cost of living crisis.
The social mobility charity also found More than three in five (63%) students are spending less on food and essentials this academic year.
Over a quarter (28%) of students say they have skipped meals to save on food costs, and students from working class families (33%) were more likely to report skipping meals than their peers, the survey found.
The survey, of 1,050 current undergraduate students across the UK carried out by Savanta between January 13 and 17 this year, suggests 24% of students are less likely to complete their degree due to the cost of living crisis.
Sir Peter Lampl, founder and chairman of the Sutton Trust, said: "Today's polling shows the serious impact of the cost-of-living crisis on students.
Additional £15m of support being made available to students
A DfE spokesperson said: "We recognise students continue to face financial challenges, which is why we are increasing loans and grants for living and other costs for a further year.
"To support universities to top up their own hardship funds we are also making an additional £15 million available. This will bring the total available to universities to draw on in supporting their students in hardship to £276 million this academic year.
"We are pleased so many universities are already stepping up efforts to support their students through a variety of programmes. These schemes have already helped students up and down the country and we urge any student who is worried about their circumstances to speak to their university."