PhD students face poverty as stipends set to rise just 2.9%

Graduate students say the increased cost of living has pushed stipends below the living wage, leaving some struggling to pay rent and forcing them to seek second jobs.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the UK’s largest single funder, which supports about 105,000 postgraduate research students, has committed to a 2.9% increase in student stipends for the next academic year. But students say this could push them into poverty.

Emma Francis and Hannah Franklin, based at UCL, coordinated a letter on behalf of London-based PhD students funded by the Medical Research Council, which is part of UKRI. “The current level of financial support provided by UKRI to PhD students is insufficient and unsustainable and creates a big diversity issue,” said Franklin. “They are curating an exclusive community, not providing equal opportunities for all.”

UKRI increases stipends based on the inflation rate of the previous academic year (2.9% from October 2020 to September 2021). Based on this, full-time MRC-funded PhD students outside London will receive £16,062 a year, and those in the capital £18,062.

With inflation over 9%, the stipend works out at £1,104 less than the London living wage once income tax and national insurance exemptions are accounted for, the letter says.

A UKRI spokesperson said: “We recognise the rising cost of living is affecting postgraduate researchers … we are actively talking to other bodies across the sector about whether we could provide further support.”