London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

'Like baby food': UK students' lockdown complaints grow

'Like baby food': UK students' lockdown complaints grow

Isolating students say universities are charging them high prices for low-quality food

Students in lockdown across Britain have complained about the cost and quality of the food provided by their universities, with some charged hundreds of pounds for meal packages including baked beans and instant noodles.

With outbreaks recorded at more than 90 UK universities, some involving hundreds of people, the support provided by the institutions is coming under scrutiny.

Students have said they are struggling to feed themselves since supermarket delivery services are inaccessible or limited, and kitchen facilities lack space to stockpile food for the two weeks for which they have to quarantine.

Many have responded to universities’ patchy support by posting photos of their unpalatable emergency food packs on social media. They have complained they have no option but to pay high prices to their university for low-quality food, some of which takes days to arrive.

UK: number of new coronavirus cases per day

Starting from day of first reported case


Students at Queen’s University Belfast are being charged £15 a day (£210 for a fortnight) for meals that might comprise cereal, noodles and a microwave curry. The Belfast Telegraph estimated that such supplies for a fortnight would cost £55 in a local Tesco. According to the Save the Student annual survey of student finances, the average student spends £100 a month on groceries.

More than 1,500 students at Lancaster University have signed a petition urging the university to stop “profiting from self-isolating students” who are paying £17.95 a day for meals the students estimate cost £4.

One student contacted the Guardian to say: “I can’t afford to pay that much. If I get symptoms I will have to go to town and bulk-buy food just to make sure I am able to eat.” The university said it was charging less than it would for its normal dining-in restaurant and cafe offer.

Two students in Edinburgh’s catered Pollock halls of residence have set up an Instagram account called @PollockPrisoner to share insights into life in “the UK’s most expensive prison”. Posts include images of nuts being given to students with nut allergies and dinners of “sweaty potatoes and white sludge”.

The university has also been criticised for providing a Muslim student with a ham sandwich and bacon crisps, though it said it was now accommodating dietary requirements.

While Northumbria University, which has had 770 students test positive for Covid-19, is offering its students a comparatively generous support package, including food vouchers and free meal parcels, some students have complained on social media of packages taking a week to arrive. As a result, local volunteers from the council and fellow students have stepped in to deliver food to those who are self-isolating.

Students at Durham who have paid more than £2,000 for the academic year to cover food in catered halls are receiving packages of dried and tinned goods, including baked beans and instant noodles.

One student posted on Twitter that the food they had been supplied with “resembles baby food”, and that they had no access to alternatives through takeaway or delivery services. Durham’s Stephenson College lists prices of £29.60 for a three-day box of food on its website.

The University of East Anglia has bowed to student and media pressure to reduce fortnightly costs to its students from £252, and agreed to refund the difference to students who have already paid. Some students remain unhappy that the costs are still too high, at £168 for the fortnight.

Although the university says it does not charge a markup on food deliveries, students at Sheffield are asked to pay £40 for a recipe pack to make four meals including fried rice, tofu and beef noodle soups, and a black bean stir fry. The university says there will be surplus ingredients with which to make other meals.

A “quarantine essentials box” at the University of the West of England costs £25 for hand gel, shower gel, toilet roll, tissues, fruit, an energy bar, bread, milk, baked beans, pasta and sauce, tinned tomatoes, instant noodles, tea and biscuits.

The University of the Arts London is charging students £16.50 a day for a breakfast box, sandwich package and main hot meal.

This article was amended on 9 October 2020 to clarify that the recipe pack provided to students at Sheffield will include surplus ingredients with which to make more than four meals.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×