The rapidly rising cost of travel is adding to students’ increased financial strain, with 20% forced to skip class due to the price of their commute.
Earlier this year, there was a 4.6% rise in UK-regulated fares, accompanied by a further £5 increase on railcards, which significantly added to commuting costs.
A survey of more than 3500 students conducted by the National Union of Students (NUS) found that 20% have missed classes due to increasing costs and that 46% of respondents reported that travel accounts for up to 25% of their weekly budget.
Many Kingston University students have had to reduce their already limited budget spending power, which has led to some hesitating to attend their classes. This increasing strain on already burdened students has now reached the crisis point, where students feel the need to weigh up whether spending the travel costs is worth it for only a few hours at university.
“I decided not to come to uni on days where I only have one lecture because it’s not worth it for me. I can review the lecture and the documents from home and still obtain the same information,” explains third student Riyad Albeeredy. “I have to think about the financial impact and weigh the pros and cons.”
Travel is just another burden on top of the ongoing increase in the cost of living. Rents for Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) have risen by 18% over the past two academic years. The academic year doubled as of this one”, and “It’s made it harder to buy weekly groceries under a budget.”
Report by Student Money & Wellbeing found that 85% of students were worried about their financial situation. Within this group of students, 54% said this worry about their money has affected their mental health. In addition to this, 77% of these students reported feeling hopeless and were unsure how they would budget their funds if commuting prices increased again.
Elsewhere, a report by Blackbullion found that only 3% of students felt that they had enough money for their degree.
Kingston University offers many support strategies if you require financial advice and help. They offer Kingston bursaries for households that earn less than 25,000 annually, as well as a cost-of-living guide for students who need more support funds and access to budgeting advice on the student intranet.
Additionally, in the 2025 transport survey, they found that over 40% of students spend over 2 hours on public transport to travel to university and back; this is happening alongside commuting costs increasing by 12% in the past year, which has led to over £1,120 yearly being spent by students on transport.
The heightened financial burden of travelling has now made 47% of students report that their part-time occupations no longer cover their basic necessities, according to the NUS financial wellbeing report, they also reported that 63 % of students work more than 20 hours weekly to cover the increasing expenses.