Union President, Andrew Pakes, said that students were facing "real stress and unhappiness because of the introduction of fees and the low levels of maintenance support".

Birmingham students are among those staging protest events

Launching the Student Rights Charter against student poverty and the introduction of tuition fees, the union staged protest events at universities around the country.

Students held rallies in Birmingham and Hull, a walk-out in Bristol and served baked-bean "hardship" meals at Keele. In Nottingham, students dug a large "grave" for the symbolic burial of education.

The charter, which seeks to create a bill of rights for students, is said by the NUS to "take a holistic view of student hardship".

The campaign will include issues such as "affordable housing, a minimum wage, proper nutrition and decent childcare provision as well as adequate money to live on and an end to fees".

The union also wants to tackle problems faced by students working to supplement their grant, with the charter demanding "a decent wage for safe part-time work".

"Students are spending so much time now in low paid part-time work and not enough time studying and learning and enjoying their education," said Andrew Pakes.

"They live in appalling low cost accommodation, which is often cold and unsafe and they frequently skip meals to save money."