Universities Minister challenged on Maintenance Loans, mental health funding and more

As part of Mental Health Awareness Week, we spoke to the Universities Minister about the significant impact this year has had on students’ wellbeing, as well as their financial concerns.

Although the pandemic has been tough on us all, countless students have felt that they’ve been among the groups most forgotten by the government.

Following the confirmation that students will finally be allowed to return to university on Monday 17 th May, and in response to the government’s advertisements for Mental Health Awareness Week, we spoke to the Universities Minister, Michelle Donelan.

We grilled her on everything from students’ mental health to the staggering statistic that PS1 billion has been squandered on accommodation that lockdown has yielded inaccessible- and here’s what she had to say.

Good communication with students during coronavirus

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Earlier this week, the government confirmed that students would be allowed to return in-person to universities on Monday 17 th May. But, for a good deal of students, the year is already over- lecturings are done and countless might have even finished quizs by that point.

Although we all understand that staying at home was necessary to suppress COVID, many students have are of the view that, throughout the pandemic, communication with them from the government has been quite poor.

We’ve heard countless complaints of students feeling ignored by those in charge, we are therefore questioned Michelle Donelan what she thought of the suggestion that students always seem to be an afterthought 😛 TAGEND

Well, my first send would be that they’re absolutely not an afterthought at all.

I recognise that some directions have finished previously or appraisals are done. At the same time, some have not.

And also we wanted to give students the opportunity to return back to university for the broader university experience, such as university accommodation if they wanted to, and that’s why enable it from the 17 th is really important.

We wanted to get students back earlier, perfectly. Nobody even missed the lockdown, but we had to have that to protect the NHS and also to combat the spread of the virus. These were necessary measures that were taken in order to achieve that.

It’s been a really difficult year for students, including the impact on their mental health and mental wellbeing, which is one of the reasons why from the very beginning I’ve encouraged and certainly pushed universities to go further on mental health and wellbeing support, and working in collaboration with the OfS on a PS3 million Student Space project.

In addition, we’ve set up a mental health issues higher education working group to ensure that students are well aware of all of the resources available.

Financial support for students during the pandemic

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The government has highlighted that PS8 5 million has been made available to help students, on top of the PS256 million they had announced at the beginning of the pandemic. But is that fairly?

In our recent National Student Accommodation Survey, the NUS pointed out that if the English government was going to match the Welsh government in terms of hardship funding per student, the amount needed would be over PS700 million.

This is more than double what the hell is pledged by the English government.

As well as this, the survey found that an estimated PS1 billion has been wasted by students on accommodation that they couldn’t use, and that includes any indemnities that had been given.

With students crying out for additional assist, why have they instead faced the same PS9, 000+ rewards per year and a lack of financial support from the government?

The universities in this country are autonomous in rule. As both governments, we mounted the maximum level of tuition fees that universities can charge.

Every university during the pandemic has decided to continue to charge that maximum, so we’ve been very clear if they are still do that, then we expect the quantity of provision to stay the same, the quality of provision to stay the same, and also for it to be accessible for all, including those that are studying remotely- the OfS has been monitoring that.

Donelan then was pointed out that students have the opportunity to make a formal complaint if they have concerns about their university. We explain the process of how to complain and potentially get compensation in our full guide.

In expressions of adaptation, “weve heard” from students who have received refunds and/ or incomplete tariff discounts.

But as we mentioned earlier, there has still been an estimated PS1 billion spent by students on unusable accommodation this academic year. What is the government doing to address this?

On the accommodation matter, we’ve exhorted all student adaptation providers, including universities, to pay fund or contribute discounts for when students were not able to access it. We’ve seen a number of them come forward and do that.

We’ve placed affliction funding there, but particularly for those that are not able to access that.

So some students may have a private proprietor that only has one or two properties, relies on that for their income,[ and] they haven’t been able to refund students. And if that has presented fiscal hardship to the student, I would urge them to go to the university, apply for the hardship funding.

UUK said that the average[ quantity of] money that is awarded to a student is to the tune of about PS1, 000, so we are talking substantial digits. And we said all along that students should be able to keep applying to hardship fund- it shouldn’t be like a one-application policy at all.

We’ve developed in partnership some gratuities for any students who are struggling to get by at uni. Mental health support for students

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In Mental Health Awareness Week 2021, the government announced new mental health support for university students. But from what we could see, this seemed to precisely consist of a roundtable on suicide prevention, rather than tangible converts such as increased funded for support services.

If mental health and suicide avoidance is such a priority for the authorities concerned, why hasn’t there been any significant- or in a number of cases, any- additional funding for mental health services?

Michelle Donelan assured us that there has been funding 😛 TAGEND

There certainly has been some extra funding. So the authorities concerned pledged PS500 million to support children and young people’s mental health.

PS1 3 million of that was announced a few weeks ago, which will support young people up to the age of 25, so could be university students with that transition from children’s mental health support, all the way to adults’ mental health support. And that’s just one example of the additional funding that has been given.

As she had mentioned earlier, Donelan also referred to Student Space, the PS3 million activity which, she said, “adds in and loads in some of the divergences during the pandemic”.

Donelan continued 😛 TAGEND

And also look forward to next year, we have included in this strategic priorities grant.

That’s the money that comes from the taxpayer to universities, like a PS15 million cup to support mental health in particular, with transition periods from academy or college to universities, bearing in mind how difficult it will be this year, given the pandemic.

Satisfy always reach out for reinforcement when needed and make time for self-care. Is the Maintenance Loan big enough?

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Year after year, our examinations find that Maintenance Credit aren’t stretching far enough to cover students’ livings penalties, leaving too many to pursue its efforts to get by.

In fact, our recent National Student Money Survey found that 71% worry about meeting aims meet and on average, students’ living penalties work out as PS223 more a few months than they receive from their Maintenance Loan.

On top of this, 58% of students in the survey said that their mental health suffers as a result of fund issues.

At Save the Student, it’s clear to us that the Maintenance Loan is not big enough and changes are urgently needed.

We questioned Michelle Donelan whether or not it is accepts that the maximum Maintenance Loan isn’t big enough? And most importantly, are they planning to do anything about it?

We’ve always acknowledged that it isn’t designed to pay for all of the costs that a student may face- it’s a contribution, and that’s why it’s means-tested based on parental or carer income.

However, that said, we impede all of these things under remember, absolutely.

But during the pandemic, we’re talking about real targeted and different challenges that university students have faced. As you pointed out,[ there have been] pressings around adaptation, or potentially not being able to work at this time, because the sectors have closed down in the lockdown.

And that’s exactly why we generated universities PS85 million of added fund in order to be allowed to substantiate students with hardship money at this time.

This didn’t ease our concerns. When looking at the maximum possible Maintenance Loan( for a student living in London, away from their parents) that is, give or take, approximately the same as an annual minimum wages position for someone age 18 or over.

And for someone age-old 21 or over, the income from a minimum wage undertaking would be higher.

So in most cases, the amount of Maintenance Loan that a student goes, even if they are completely estranged from their parents, is not the same thing as a minimum wage. How are students expected to survive on that?

So, as I said, it is designed to be a contribution with top-ups leaved from people’s parents or from themselves doing part-time jobs.

It isn’t meant to be all-encompassing. The penalty that every student will face will motley even within London or within the same city, depending on their adaptation selections and the specific characteristics of their directions, etc.

But during the pandemic, students have faced additional challenges and difficulties financially. And I completely agree with you on the relationship between fiscal persuades and mental health, which is one of the reasons why we prioritised get that PS85 million out of the door rapidly so that universities could assist students at this time.

Full interview

Here’s our full interrogation with Michelle Donelan 😛 TAGEND

Read more: savethestudent.org