RGSU response to the Autumn Budget 2026

28 Oct

Today, Chancellor John Healey set out the government’s Autumn Budget for 2026, outlining its spending and taxation plans for the year ahead. The Chancellor spoke about the importance of universities in delivering growth in every postcode. Our 750,000 students, deliver enormous economic benefit across the UK as students and go on to be the teachers, nurses and engineers' society needs.

“We have top-ranking universities, vibrant start-ups and deep capital markets.”

Chancellor John Healey

While the Budget includes measures that could help some students with everyday costs, the Chancellor’s speech announces no additional student maintenance support or funding.

Our students are struggling with a dramatic increase in the cost of accommodation, transport and tuition fees. Russell Group Students’ Unions are disappointed the Chancellor didn’t take practical steps to address the acute concerns students have in this Budget.

Failure to address the acute need of students

Cost of living support tends to ignore students as a distinct and vulnerable group facing severe financial hardship.

This is despite 63% of students skipping meals to save money, and almost one in ten using a foodbank.

Ahead of the Budget, we called on the Government to:

Increase maintenance support to reflect the Real Living Wage and reverse the impact of years of support failing to keep pace with inflation.
Improve targeted financial support for vulnerable student groups, including disabled students, student carers, and student parents.
Reform the student finance system in line with the recommendations of the Treasury Committee's review.
Strengthen financial support for healthcare students undertaking placements.
Establish a national student hardship fund, distributed through universities, to support those facing acute financial difficulties.

Disappointingly, the government has failed to address immediate financial relief for the majority of our student members; the Budget falls far short of the comprehensive action needed.

Many students will therefore enter another academic year facing financial insecurity, longer working hours alongside their studies, and difficult choices about essentials such as food, housing, and transport.

Household bills and everyday support

Household bills continue to provide a significant source of financial pressure for students across higher education. The government has committed to extending the reduction on energy bill VAT from 5% to 0% until July 2027, alongside a £100 energy bill payment for households in Council Bands A through to D.

They have further committed to abolishing standing charges from gas bills whilst offering modest savings by removing tariffs on “everyday products”.

Direct support from the government is welcome but we must ensure that it is targeted towards students and makes a direct impact on finances. This means ensuring reduced bills are passed on to those renting bill-inclusive packages, and a commitment to extended support beyond July 2027.

National Wages

Up to 65% of fulltime undergraduate students in the UK now work alongside their studies. This rise is the result of maintenance loans failing to keep up with inflation with the amount students have in their pockets eroded in real terms.

We are therefore pleased to see that the National Minimum Wage and the National Living Wage are set to be increased by 3.9%, which will result in more cash for over a million students.

This rise, however, continues to create an unfair imbalance between those on the NMW and students who are aged 21 and over, on the NLW.

The current staggered minimum wage system creates a structure in which two students can be working the exact same role but – if one is aged 21+ and the other below 21 – are earning different sums of money. This is deeply unfair and has a disproportionate impact on higher education students, the majority of which are under the age of 21.

Students should not have to rely on the good will of employers; the government must readdress this system to secure the National Living Wage for all aged 18+.

Misogyny prevention fund

We have been calling on the government to do more to address misogyny, and we’re pleased to hear the misogyny prevention fund announced today.

Last year, RGSU Officers secured a debate in Parliament on legislating misogyny as a hate crime, whilst we released a report into gender-based violence in higher education – we found that 65% of students who had not previously reported GBV were more inclined to do so if misogyny was formally recognised.

We are pleased to see the government take further action on Violence Against Women and Girls and urge them to directly involved students’ unions, students, and universities in regional and national strategies.

International Policy

Today also saw two announcements on international student policy.

The government has released a new impact analysis on the international student levy, confirming the policy to charge a tax on international students will go ahead. The analysis shows that the levy will cost the higher education sector £1 billion by 2030/31, and acknowledges this will have an impact on research funding and domestic teaching. RGSU urges the government to find an alternative way to fund maintenance grants, which are desperately needed.

The Budget also addressed the graduate route visa which had been initially cut to 18-months. The government will now retain the two year route “for graduates from high compliance universities where there are strong labour market outcomes”. We are pleased to see this move in the right direction, recognising the hugely significant contribution that international students make to our country.

Next steps

We will continue to work with the government to address the financial crisis facing our students, taking action on maintenance support and student loans.