THE National Union of Students Scotland (NUS) has demanded that student travel costs be halved, as a study reveals almost a third are missing meals to get to class.

A study into travel barriers in education by the NUS has found that 32 per cent of the 3,746 students surveyed went without food, 29 per struggled to buy stationery or books, and 60 per cent missed out on socialising due to spiralling travel costs.

Bus fares have increased by 60 per cent in the last decade, and around 55 per cent of students in Scotland are ineligible for the Scottish government’s under-22s free bus travel scheme, prompting the NUS Scotland’s president Ellie Gomersall to call for a half-fare on rail and bus transport for all students.

She said: “When 28 per cent of students have missed class or placement because they could not afford the cost of travel, it is clear that something needs to be done to make our education system more accessible to those on lower incomes.

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