The ongoing cost of living crisis continues to hit students hard across the UK, with many reporting they are regularly skipping meals and turning to food banks to save wherever they can.

Food shopping is the second-largest monthly expense for students, at a whopping £144 per month on average. That's surpassed only by accommodation rent costs which have also gone up sharply over the past year.

However the increase in groceries spending is less than it was between the previous years, as the increase in food costs has fortunately started to slow down.

In addition to groceries, the average student is also spending £48 per month on takeaways and eating out—more than items such as clothes and course materials required for their studies.

Nearly 1 in 10 surveyed students reported having to rely on food banks during the last academic year.

The survey also found that 67% of students say they skip meals to save money - that's the majority of students opting to go hungry because they can't afford to eat.

You can read the full survey results and analysis on the Save the Student website.

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Cost-effective student food has never mattered more

These shocking results show how important it is that students have the skills they need to cook their own affordable meals.

When there's so little wiggle room in the student budget, every pound counts. But too many students are spending their grocery budgets on convienence foods, just because they don't know how to cook things themselves.

This year at The Student Food Project, we'll continue providing as much support to students as we can, to help them learn skills to cook cheap and easy food.