Re Chelsie Henshaw’s article (The cost of living crisis will force students to choose between studying and eating, 14 October), I graduated earlier this year with a first, and was all set to go on to my master’s course this autumn. I’ve now had to defer for a year because I just can’t make the numbers add up, even with a part-time job. I’m a mature student, so there is no “bank of mum and dad”, and, as a working-class student, there are precious little savings for me to fall back on. Even the full master’s loan, and a discount on tuition fees from my university for getting a first, leaves the pot virtually empty after the basics of just rent and utilities – I’d have less than £100 a month left over for food, and absolutely nothing for anything else.
It would take just one catastrophe to send me over the financial edge. So my educational journey has effectively stalled, as have my career plans. I’m really hoping I’ll be able to restart my master’s next year, but if the crisis continues or deepens, then I can kiss goodbye to my postgrad dreams for at least a few years. How many other working-class students are in this position, either having to drop out or not even start their degrees because of financial constraints? It makes me angry and sad and hopeless that, even in education, which is supposed to be the greatest of all levellers, the rich get almost all the pie and the poor are left with crumbs.
Josephine Makepeace
Norwich
