The Students Association ensured that that voices of OU students will be heard in Parliament this week in our response to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Students’ consultation on the cost of living crisis.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Students is a group of MPs who are interested in issue affecting students. They meet regularly in Parliament to discuss issue affecting students and often invite students to take part in the conversations. Their consultation focused on the impact of the cost of living crisis on students and students’ unions and associations.
The Association response focused on three key points:
- Open University students are being squeezed by a combination of the cost of living crisis and a lack of access to student finance as a result of being distance-learning students.
- Open University students are much more likely to have children, or other caring commitments, work commitments, and very importantly in the context of cost of living, mortgages, private rent payments, and energy bills to manage.
- Disabled students also continue to suffer as a result of the combination of the cost of living crisis and a student finance application system that doesn’t deliver their financial support in time.
While All-Party Parliamentary Groups do not make policy directly, they can highlight issues within Parliament through their more detailed knowledge of the debates and events taking place in their areas of focus.
It’s important that OU students’ experiences are highlighted in these spaces as the debates are often dominated by discussions around traditional brick universities, and the challenges facing 18-22 year old. The Students Association ensures that OU students’ voices are heard.
If you want to find out more about the work the Association does representing OU students, visit the Our work area of the website.