Parents of students going to university as part of the Autumn 2016 intake are facing a large hidden hike in the amount they are expected to contribute to support their child's living costs, with some now asked to pay over £5,300 a year, MoneySavingExpert.com analysis reveals.

Each year a student can apply for a maintenance (living) loan from the Government, which for the vast majority of under-25s is means-tested based on their parents’ income. The reduction in this living loan starts for those from families with incomes of as little as £25,000 a year and it can be halved for those whose parents earn £60,000.

The Government’s calculation effectively assumes parents will make up the difference, through what’s known as the ‘parental contribution’.

For new 2016 starters, an increase in loan size and a large increase in the portion that is means-tested means some parents are expected to find as much as 27% more than parents earning the same were last year. These results came from our analysis of figures obtained from the Student Loans Company (SLC) for England.

Worse still, this amount is never made explicit -  it’s just left for it to dawn on parents. Today MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis, who's also former head of the Independent Taskforce on Student Finance Information, has written an open letter to Universities Minister Jo Johnson asking for the Government to ‘fess up and put the expected parental contribution, including the amount, in each student’s entitlement letter.