Students are left with an average shortfall of £8,566 a year, according to a report by the National Union of Students (NUS).

The figure is based on estimates of a first-year student’s expenditure over a 39-week academic year. The report suggests on average £1,956 is spent on food, just over £2,000 is used for personal items and expenses such as mobile phone bills, while £1,310 is spent on leisure, which includes money spent on alcohol. The average price of rent outside of London is calculated to be £4,834 a year.

The available maintenance loan of £3,575 for all eligible full-time students who began university in September 2012 does not even cover the estimated cost for accommodation. 35 % of the maintenance loan provided by the government is income-assessed, and the maximum amount that a student can receive is £5,500. Students with a household income of £25,000 or less are entitled to an additional maintenance grant of £3,250, which does not need to be repaid. This funding gap of more than £8,500, highlighted by the NUS, is based on students receiving a maintenance loan of £4,335 and a grant of £934. At this rate, the NUS calculated that a student would have to work 34 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, in order to earn the difference after paying tax.

It was revealed earlier this month that the average cost of student accommodation has doubled over the last ten years from £59.17 a week in 2001/2 to £117.67 in 2011/12. Cambridge students pay between £80 and £110 a week for a standard single room, and between £90 and £130 a week for an en suite room. However, these figures do not include extra costs at some colleges for heating and lighting, and the Kitchen Fixed Charge. The charge, which ranges from around £95 to over £200, pays to subsidise college meals.

The guaranteed maintenance loan of £3,575 would not cover the price of accommodation at Newnham for example, where all students pay a flat rate of £3,938 for a 30-week academic year, along with an extra Kitchen Fixed Charge of around £700.

Pia Salter, a first-year classicist at Newham, said: “Even though you are paying the same rate every year and the rooms do vary a lot, the way the Newnham room ballot works enables a balance in the standard of accommodation. On the other hand, it is an expensive rate, and you don’t have the option to pick a cheaper room. [The kitchen fixed charge] does seem an extravagant amount.” Salter, who is an international student, does not receive a tuition fee or maintenance loan: “I have to rely on my parents for financial support and that can be hard. It’s hard to balance finances, and it requires a lot of budgeting that a busy student perhaps doesn’t have the time to really evaluate and consider.”

As students are usually not allowed to seek part-time employment during term, additional financial assistance is often required on top of any maintenance loans from the government, including from parents, overdrafts and bursary schemes.

Lyam Todd, a second-year philosophy student at Christ’s, said: “My loan definitely would not cover my accommodation and living costs. I think my loan is about £2100 per term and my college bill is about £1700. Luckily I get the full Newton Bursary, as well as a college bursary, and that’s why I feel secure enough with money. The funds that the University lays on for students are so extremely helpful and vital to many students here, myself included.” Todd receives an annual bursary of £3,400 from the University and an additional £700 college bursary for accommodation costs.

He thinks that the increase in tuition fees to £9,000 a year and the rising cost of student living means that financial support is more essential now than ever: “It’s ever more important to have the bursaries now that fees are raised precisely in order to ensure that people aren’t put off coming.”

The Cambridge Bursary Scheme, which is administered by the Isaac Newton Trust, offers annual bursaries of up to £3,500 for eligible students who began their course in 2012. The bursary offers assistance to students who have a household income of less than £42,600.

In March, Cambridge University Students’ Union (CUSU) organised a day of protest against the proposed cuts to student bursaries. There had been proposals to offer a £3,000 reduction on fees for students with household incomes of less than £25,000 but to cut the cash bursary to £1,625.

The University responded to pressure by announcing that the bursary scheme would continue to offer grants of up to £3,500. Some students from disadvantaged backgrounds can receive a fee waiver of £6,000 in their first year through the National Scholarship Programme in addition to a Cambridge Bursary.

A spokesman for the University said: “The University of Cambridge is committed to the principle that no UK student should be deterred from applying to the University because of financial concerns. We offer an unlimited number of bursaries to students from lower income households to ensure that students can meet the cost of their Cambridge education, regardless of background.

“Cambridge itself is a relatively inexpensive place in which to study and has consistently been ranked in the top 10 of NatWest’s Student Living Index of the UK’s most cost-effective university cities. As most students stay in college accommodation for the duration of their studies, they do not need to pay commercial rents, large deposits or additional utility bills, as college rents are all-inclusive.

Students also only pay rent during term time, unless they choose to stay in Cambridge over the vacations. Cambridge terms are short, so overall accommodation costs are lower than at many other universities.”