Robbed of their futures: how austerity cuts hit young people hardest "If I'd been a year younger I wouldn't have made it to university," says John Morris, 21, a student who just missed the government cuts that are restricting the life chances of thousands of young people. On Wednesday students around the country, led by anti-austerity groups, are joining a London demonstration calling on the government to scrap tuition fees and cuts. Paired with the introduction of £9,000 university tuition fees for 2012"s student intake, the slashing of benefits and key services for students and young people is having a devastating impact, the organisers say. Scrapping of the education maintenance allowance (EMA) The EMA was a weekly means-tested payment of up to £30 for students aged 16-19, at schools or in further education colleges, in return for their attending lessons. It provided a lifeline to students like Morris. In summer 2011, he was homeless - social services split his family in 2008 - and hoping to start a politics degree at Keele University. But there's no way "someone like me" could have dreamed of getting to university without the EMA, he says. Morris didn't blow it all on "beer, ciggies and Pret A Manger sandwiches." It was crucial for his survival - going towards electricity, gas and rent for his housing association house. Around 45% of students qualified for the EMA, costing over £560m. But in late 2010, the government scrapped it in England. It still exists in Scotland and Wales. The budget was slashed to just £180m and reallocated to a 16-19 "bursary fund." Unlike the EMA, which was distributed according to parental income, the new fund can be distributed by schools and colleges as they see fit. Pupils can apply even if they weren't eligible for the EMA, so it's unclear how many students qualify. The EMA provided a lifeline for John Morris when he was homeless. Some of today's sixth formers don't know the EMA ever existed, but those with older siblings have found the injustice hard to swallow. Sura Hassan, 20, a medical student at the University of Liverpool, has four older siblings who benefited from the allowance, while she started sixth form just after it was scrapped. She can afford food and her phone bill, but not much else - and her finances cause constant worry. "I feel like I've been cheated out of a promise," she says. I knew about EMA in school and had ideas to save up for university, then I had to discard those plans. It seems as if the government is trying to make higher education less accessible to those from lower income families. University now feels like something more related to social class rather than to education. Jack Britton, a research economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, has examined the impact of the switch from the EMA to the 16-19 bursary. He says the number of students in full-time further education fell by more than 8,000 in 2012-13 (pdf, page 8) because of the change. "I think the EMA is better, because it's easier for colleges to allocate," he says. There have been problems with underspending - potentially due to colleges not being sure who's eligible for the bursary. According to a survey of 16-19 education providers, the median size of bursaries given in 2012-13 was just £445 per recipient, including payments made in kind. Meg Callanan, a senior researcher at NatCen Social Research, says it's too early to know whether the changes have affected social mobility. But already, research shows a lack of awareness about the bursary fund and its ambiguous eligibility criteria - 30% of students surveyed had never heard of it. Cuts to advice and support services Youth services have been slashed, with councils closing youth clubs up and down the country. Connexions - which provided information, support and advice to 13- to 25-year-olds - has been almost completely cut and replaced by the National Careers Service with disastrous results, particularly for the most vulnerable. Teenagers cook and learn about healthy eating at a youth club, West Yorkshire. Photograph: Paula Solloway/Alamy "It was difficult not having a family and going home to an empty house," says Morris. For him, support from Connexions was key. It made him feel less isolated and he began to believe that he could get to university. A Connexions worker helped me find services and the right organisations to talk to about work, and finding enough money. "It was vital in getting myself through the early stages of homelessness," he says. But the Connexions employee who helped him was laid off during Morris's second year of sixth form. Aimhigher - a programme that aimed to widen higher education participation - was also scrapped in 2011, just before the fees increase. "Where you come from remains such a key factor in whether or not you go on to university," says Megan Dunn, NUS vice-president for higher education. Young people from the most advantaged neighbourhoods in England are three times more likely to enter higher education than those from the most disadvantaged. Cuts to mental health services One of the coalition's first policy proposals was to give mental health parity with physical health, but it proceeded to slash mental health services for young people. Local authorities and university counselling services have been hit hard, says Chris Leaman, a spokesperson at the mental health charity Young Minds, whose parents" helpline has seen a surge in demand, taking 10,000 calls last year from adults anxious about young people they know. Leaman says: "Thresholds are increasing, so children and young people have to be a lot more ill before they can get treatment from child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), putting pressure on waiting times. "They get frustrated when GPs refer them to services and it's months before they can be seen - in this time they get worse," he says. Sophie Jackson (name changed) is a case in point. Now 18, and studying at the University of Exeter, she'd been receiving cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for low mood and self harm at her local CAMHS in Berkshire for a few years. But just before she turned 18, her psychotherapist announced that they were leaving the practice and said Jackson seemed well enough to have just one more meeting. "It was clear she didn't want to pass on my case to anyone at the practice because they were understaffed," she says. They sent me a letter saying there were no post-18 services available in my town and that I could self refer to some basic talking therapy sessions elsewhere. Padma Desai (name changed), 23, a Nottingham University graduate, was diagnosed with depression at 18 and has had negative experiences of both local authority and university mental health services. When I was diagnosed I was put on many different meds and managed to get a few one-to-one counselling sessions - but this was only a short term thing, so I relapsed. After leaving university and being offered medication again by her GP, she made it clear that it hadn't worked the first time. What I hate most is that every time I go back to the GP, they always offer me meds. I had to push for something more," she says. I was eventually offered an online CBT thing which was better than drugs, but lack of motivation is a problem for me so I struggled with that. Young people's mental health services have suffered huge cuts, putting pressure on charities. Lily Slater (name changed), 21, a graduate of Queen Mary University of London, was left in limbo when her university counselling sessions ended. The counsellor said it wasn't her decision, that if it was up to her she'd have continued seeing me. The sessions were ending because there was no money, not because I was well. Slater's situation deteriorated and she contacted a GP, who, like Desai's, swiftly recommended medication. No mention was made about accessing any kind of psychological help through the NHS. She eventually agreed to the drugs but has had to supplement them with counselling provided by a charity, Step Forward, which has been "amazing." I'm angry that a charity had to step in when I was supposed to be getting support from the NHS. The future seems pretty uncertain - you never know when your counselling and support is going to be cut and you'll be left on your own," says Slater. Leaman says the whole system of mental health services is under strain. The voluntary sector is struggling because cuts to local authorities means there's not the funding there once was. He advises anyone in urgent need to seek alternative support from the Samaritans, Childline, The Site, the Young Minds website, as well as voluntary sector organisations. Proposed cuts to the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) The government planned to "modernise" the DSA, which students in England can receive to meet the extra study costs arising from their disabilities, long-term mental and physical health conditions, and learning difficulties. Some changes have been postponed for at least two years after protests from students. But from 2015, many of the provisions the DSA currently pays for, such as standard computers for disabled students, will no longer be covered. Chloe Metzger, 20, a student at Kingston University, receives the DSA for her anxiety and dyslexia. She gets one-on-one mentoring and dyslexia support, along with a laptop, printer and various software. "Before I started with my mental health mentor, I was a different person," she says. I've learned to live with my conditions and can look forward to the future. Bethany Payne, 18, a student at the University of Exeter, receives the allowance for her repetitive strain injury. I can't write and I rely on a dictaphone and a laptop. I'm on a very low income, so I couldn't buy those things myself. "Young people applying to university with a disability might be barred from attending in future, because they can't afford the cost," she says. Further education (FE) cuts Since 2010, the Department for Education has protected funding for educational provision for five-16s, but has slashed funding for 16-18 education. Some sixth form colleges will have lost a third of their funding by the end of this parliament, according to the Sixth Form College Association (SFCA), because of a combination of cuts to entitlement funding, which provides tutorials and enrichment activities, a new 16-19 funding formula, and a reduction in funding for 18 year olds. This has meant increased class sizes and a reduction in the number of A-level and vocational courses available at many schools and FE colleges. A survey of sixth form colleges by the SFCA found that 68% had dropped courses, with 38% cutting modern foreign language A-levels and 22% Stem subjects. Reuben Williamson, 16, a sixth form student at Graveney school in Tooting and an activist with South London Defend Education, says: "Students are facing a postcode lottery - I know people in smaller sixth forms and colleges who are unable to do their desired A-level options, limiting their future career choices. Reuben Williamson: "I know people in smaller sixth forms and colleges who are unable to do their desired A-level options." "Plenty of people wanting to do vocational subjects more suited to their desired job path are also being told the courses no longer exist," says Williamson. With the government's mantra about those not in work going out and getting training, not giving adequate provision for the most vulnerable in our society is hypocritical and unjust. Special educational needs (SEN) provision has also been cut in some places, as have support services for students with English as an additional language - alongside government calls for immigrants to better integrate themselves into British society. Julian Gravatt, assistant chief executive at the Association of Colleges (AoC), says transport costs - which students may once have covered with their EMA - are problematic for those from less advantaged backgrounds. "It's a real challenge in some rural areas, and some councils have reduced money there too," he says. This means student choices are constrained by the need to attend local institutions. At the same time, the government has been funding 93 new free schools, academies and sixth form colleges - that account for just 1% of the 16-18 population in education - some of them in areas without need. "It looks like a waste," says Gravatt. Many of the new institutions have failed to meet recruitment targets. What students and young people want and need most is a government that is in tune with their concerns, says medical student Hassan. She adds: "Most MPs in office now will have some sort of HE degree, if not multiple degrees. But because many of them had theirs for free, they can't empathise with the current generation of students who have to pay so much money for the basic right to learn. For details of how to attend Wednesday's demonstration, click here.