Students should be paid their maintenance loans monthly instead of per term to help them with the cost of living crisis, a group of Labour MPs is urging the government.
Dozens of Labour backbenchers are supporting a bill that would bring England’s maintenance loan system in line with Scotland’s.
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Currently, students in England receive their loans in three lump sums over the academic year. For those receiving the maximum £10.2k annually outside London, this equates to £3.4k payments every four months, which they need to make last.
Labour MP Luke Charters, who is proposing the bill, told Sky News that “lots of students are maxing their overdrafts and credit cards” because they are struggling to manage their budgets.
“Could you imagine having your salary drop three times a year and getting four months all at once? It’s really, really a difficult balance for students at the moment,” he said.
The bill, supported by the National Union of Students (NUS) and dozens of regional student unions, also proposes giving students their first payment in advance of term starting so they can buy supplies and pay their rent deposit, which is often due before September.
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In a speech in parliament introducing the bill on Wednesday, the York Outer MP said this was impacting working-class students who cannot rely on their parents.
“Pots and pans, rent deposits, books, software, travel passes, course subscriptions, these costs all stack up,” he said.
“I heard of a student who couldn’t afford the train to university because their student finance hadn’t arrived. Starting uni should be memorable, not miserable.”
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Manchester Rusholme MP Afzal Khan, who is one of the 11 sponsors of Mr Charters’ bill, said this plan was not about the next election but about improving things for young people “who have it really tough”.
He said there is a “clear interest” across the party to help out students and this proposal is about trying to “get some publicity and put it on the radar”.
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Mr Charters used the 10-minute rule process, which is a mechanism for backbench MPs to shine a spotlight on an issue they want to build pressure on.
It is formally supported by 11 Labour MPs, the maximum amount allowed to sponsor this sort of bill, but he said it has the support of “dozens” of his colleagues as well as student unions representing a third of all students.
Amira Campbell, the president of the NUS, said student finance is “in dire need of reform and a review into the payment plan is a great place to start”.
However it would need the support of the government to become a reality. Mr Charters said he was “confident the government is listening”. Sky News has contacted the department for education for comment.
What has government done about university fees?
The government has already pledged to reintroduce maintenance grants for the most disadvantaged students in England from 2028, which unlike loans, do not have to be paid back.
However, last year ministers also announced that tuition fees will increase every year in line with inflation from 2026 onwards.
And measures in Rachel Reeves’ budget in November also mean that many graduates face paying more tax, as the salary threshold at which loans must start to be repaid is being frozen for three years.
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Mr Charters, 30, who will be affected by that policy, said successive governments have ignored students and graduates and there needs to be a better offer.
He told Sky News: “I’m on plan two. I’m paying off my loan. I’m one of the youngest MPs in parliament. For successive governments going back decades, parliament has not talked enough about student issues. I say enough’s enough.”
