MOST students are struggling with food costs and are spending less than their minimum need while at university due to maintenance loan squeezes, research published today shows.

Polling for educational disadvantage charity the Sutton Trust shows that 62 per cent of university students spend less than £37 a week on food,  the amount judged the minimum needed for a single person to buy essentials.

Students living at universities in England outside London have median costs of £11,400 a year on essential spending, with 52 per cent on average going to housing, 12 per cent on groceries and 6 per cent on bills.

But the median total loan for them of £7,000 — equivalent to 61 per cent of spend — does not come near to covering these basic needs.

The median loan in London is higher at £8,500 but is drastically less than the median spending  — £17,287 — by students in the capital.

Working-class students are spending more on essential spending than better-off students, the study found.

To make ends meet, two thirds of students reported taking on paid work, with 20 per cent working 16-30 hours per week. Nearly half have missed classes as a result, and 23 per cent reported that they had missed a deadline or asked for an extension to work.

Trust founder Sir Peter Lampl called it a disgrace that student maintenance support has fallen so far behind rising living costs.

Sir Peter, also founder of the Education Endowment Foundation, said: “No student should be forced to cut back on food.

“Youngsters in England are getting a particularly raw deal compared to those studying elsewhere in the UK where they receive maintenance grants.

“It’s essential that maintenance grants should be reintroduced in England so that students can meet their basic needs without graduating with excessive debt.”