Cost of living

The current cost of living crisis is impacting everyone, with students affected by price rises in food and living costs, travelling and commuting, and study resources such as technology.

To understand, how we can support our students through the cost of living crisis, we conducted a survey in November 2022. Over 700 students responded to the survey.

They told us that the areas where they most need additional support include:

• Food and living costs, with over 60% students citing this as most urgent, with daily living costs for food, rent and accommodation costs rising.
• Travel / commuting costs is the second largest issue is, with around 50% of our home undergraduate students commuting to the University and costs for public transport, parking etc also high.
• Technology costs to support students’ studies, such as broadband, laptops and associated consumables are all rising.

Aston University has put together a package of measures to help its students.

Free Wednesday breakfast and free fruit daily in the Students’ Union

Starting on Wednesday 17 January after the Christmas break, you can once again relish a complimentary continental breakfast every Wednesday morning in the Students' Union building lounge from 9:00am to 10:30am. Additionally, fresh fruit will also be available for our students to enjoy, enhancing their Wednesdays at the Students' Union.

Aston Students’ Union (ASU) pantry

The ASU Pantry has some basic ingredients on offer for students to cook and eat. 

Students are encouraged to use this resource as a ‘swap shop’, taking food when they need it, and dropping off any food that they don’t need.

The ethos is ‘Give food when you have it and take food when you need it.” 

The ASU Pantry is available to students during the Students’ Union’s opening hours.

Social Sport Initiative

Sport Aston run Active Aston which is a low cost social sport initiative. There will be weekly student sessions for badminton, basketball and squash. Each session costs £1. You can turn up and take part in just one or all of them. Our friendly Sport Activators will attend each session to make sure everyone feels welcome. The sessions provide students and staff with somewhere to be active, but not competitive, and socialise with other students.

Additional support services for students

There are a range of support services available to students, from money advice to emotional and wellbeing support. We are here for you, so please reach out if you need help.

You can visit the HUB in the first instance or contact one of the specific teams below for free and confidential advice. We are here for all students, whether you are a UK or international student, live at home locally with family, a mature student or a distance learner.

Our trained advisors can help with budgeting, debt advice, housing matters, and can advise on any scholarships or funding you may be eligible for.

If you are struggling, we encourage you to reach out as it is better to ask for help before finding yourself in a crisis situation.