We hope you are settling into your university life, and are engaging with all our Societies, Sport clubs, Cardiff Met Award or our representative structures. However, we are mindful that not everyone is privileged to participate in these, and particularly cost-of-living crisis forcing more and more of our students to work longer and longer hours to make the ends meet.
We hope you are settling into your university life, and are engaging with all our Societies, Sport clubs, Cardiff Met Award or our representative structures. However, we are mindful that not everyone is privileged to participate in these, and particularly cost-of-living crisis forcing more and more of our students to work longer and longer hours to make the ends meet.
On the 19th of September, there has been a debate in the UK’s Westminster Government concerning the impact of cost of living on students in Higher Education. We have written to all 4 of the Cardiff MPs, as we grow concerned over the housing market in Cardiff, cost of groceries and utilities going up, and maintenance loans across the UK not keeping up with real cost of student experience in Higher Education.
We will continue fighting for your needs, at both local and national levels, with hopes to achieve a meaningful change that will have an impact on your experience and living conditions as a student at Cardiff Met. If you ever have suggestions to what the university can adopt in order to help students, let us know through the school reps, part-time officers or your full-time reps directly – Natalia (nroach2@cardiffmet.ac.uk) and Rewathi – (rviswanatham@cardiffmet.ac.uk ).
See the copy of the letter below:
“Dear Member of Parliament,
We are writing to you in advance of the Westminster Hall debate on the impact of increases in the cost of living on further and higher education students. We hope you take the time consider issues highlighted in this letter and raise these on behalf of all your constituents affected by the ongoing crisis.
As we approach the new academic year, we prepare for the year ahead in supporting the experience of our students, but we cannot ignore the experiences of students in the previous year. Last year, the UK government has provided help through the £400 cost of living payment, and whilst this has helped many, it often left students out of pocket when living in purpose-built student accommodations, or university accommodations and many others. In addition, the growth of the student finance is Wales has increased significantly, but not in line with the inflation both experienced in last year and expected for the year ahead. As an institution with many local students, but also students from England, we have students whose loan has increased by mere 2.3%, leaving them and their student experience behind.
Unfortunately, with global and local situations, we have seen extreme housing shortage right here in Cardiff, leaving students in really poor housing conditions, or facing extremely high prices for their accommodation and driving their living standards even lower. As a result, we have students who reported having their mental wellbeing (56%) and social life (54%) negatively impacted by the cost of living crisis, with one in six students considering dropping out of the university.
Last year, all four governments relied heavily on universities to provide an additional provision for students, mostly in form of discounted (or even free) food, and warm spaces on their campuses. We know universities’ budgets are now tighter than ever, and many will no longer be able to continue funding these initiatives. As such we ask you that you speak on behalf of all our students at Cardiff Met, and fight for cheaper food, housing, utilities, higher maintenance loans and more hardship funding, especially for the international students, to help universities in tackling this challenge and give all our students a fair chance to access higher education.
On behalf of the Cardiff Metropolitan Students’ Union
Natalia-Mia Roach
SU President
&
Rewathi Viswanatham
SU Vice-President