New findings on student well-being have shown that university students are four times more likely to feel lonely than the 1 in 20  of other adults in the general British population.

59% of students said they were frequently lonely in an annual study of more than 10,000 students by the Higher Education Policy Institute. The findings on loneliness at UK universities are shared across most institutions.

Taylor Jones, 23, was living at home and commuting to campus every day. He said: 

"I had people I spoke to in my classes but outside of my classes, I would spend time sitting in the car or sitting in the toilets, waiting for any free time to be over."

With rising cost of living and substantial student debt, more students are choosing to live at home. However Taylor felt not staying in student accommodation made it more difficult to make friends.

The level of isolation and misery soon left him ill with panic attacks. When he asked his university for advice, he wasn't given any support and was told being lonely was "normal". He soon had to end his degree.

The findings are similar to those of previous years with only 35% of students saying their course was good value for money. This reflects a continuing concern about whether universities provide enough value to justify the overall cost of being a university student.

Taylor has since enrolled at a different, smaller, university and will graduate this year.