Almost 10% of KU’s full-time students have dropped out in the last 5 years, according to a FOI request.
A further 13% of the university’s part-time students since 2019/2020 have also not completed their course.
Jacob Stoneman, a 23-year-old university dropout, said: “I dropped out because I let myself go… I didn’t do much and was always by myself.”
A loneliness epidemic due to educational circumstances has led almost two-thirds of students affected to consider dropping out, via Aldermore.
“This caused me to slip into a depression I could barely claw my way out of,”
Jacob Stoneman
Stoneman is just one of many students in the UK who have a mental health condition. “I thought I was the only person struggling as bad as I was, but there were so many other people; I regret not sticking with university,” he continued.
A Kingston University spokesperson said: “A dedicated online Student Wellbeing Hub and student wellbeing guide are available to all students, detailing all support services in one easily accessible place. A wide range of mental health support is available for our students through the dedicated Student Wellbeing Service and our partnerships with wider services such as the University GP practice and local NHS mental health teams.”
Universities across the UK have experienced enrolment issues, causing courses to have ‘cold spots’ in higher education.
“I’ve got a solid role in my career whilst most postgraduates can’t even find one,” said one anonymous respondent.
Bloomberg has recently proved that graduate jobs in the UK have fallen below 10,000 for the first time since Adzuna has been tracking their metrics in 2016.
Haydon Turle, a 25-year-old business owner, added: “I recently took on a 25-year-old university postgraduate as an engineering apprentice, he’s just started his three years at college to get his qualifications.”
Turle is one of 60% of young people who have not attended higher education, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).
Per Research Gate, a survey issued to over 2,000 young people has shown that those from low social classes are often deterred from going to university because of their fear of debt.
Data from the 2025 National Student Money Survey saw that tuition fees also rose from £9,250 to £9,535 in September 2025, the first increase since 2017.
Picture by: Amer Ghazzal / Shutterstock
“Kingston University has extensive student support services, easily accessible to all students via the Student Hub or on of our Information Centres on campus. The University’s Money Advice team support students in financial difficulty or struggling with debt and we also provide a range of information on wider cost of living support, available to students more broadly,” KU’s spokesperson said.
In a survey conducted by The River, key factors as to why young people have not attended university range from debt worries to already having had access to their dream job through early employment.
“I wanted to get into work as early as possible so that I can retire early and enjoy my life. I couldn’t see that happening by racking up so much debt,” Turle said.
