The Students Problem Reading Answers: The “Students Problem” is an IELTS Academic reading practice passage that discusses the growing housing crisis faced by university students in Ireland. This type of passage is commonly found in IELTS Reading, where candidates are asked to identify key details, understand causes and effects, and extract factual information. The question types you may encounter with this passage include True/False/Not Given, Matching Information, and Sentence Completion. Practising with such real-world topics helps build essential skills for scanning, skimming, and critical thinking, all vital for achieving a high IELTS score.
Free IELTS Reading Practice Tests
The Students Problem Reading Answers Passage
The Students Problem
The college and university accommodation crisis in Ireland has become ‘so chronic’ that students are being forced to sleep rough, share a bed with strangers – or give up on studying altogether.
The deputy president of the Union of Students in Ireland, Kevin Donoghue, said the problem has become particularly acute in Dublin. He told the Irish Mirror: “Students are so desperate, they’re not just paying through the nose to share rooms – they’re paying to share a bed with complete strangers. It reached crisis point last year and it’s only getting worse. “We’ve heard of students sleeping rough; on sofas, floors and in their cars and I have to stress there’s no student in the country that hasn’t been touched by this crisis. “Commutes – which would once have been considered ridiculous – are now normal, whether that’s by bus, train or car and those who drive often end up sleeping in their car if they’ve an early start the next morning.”
Worry is increasing over the problems facing Ireland's 200,000 students as the number increases over the next 15 years. With 165,000 full-time students in Ireland – and that figure expected to increase to around 200,000 within the next 15 years –fears remain that there aren’t enough properties to accommodate current numbers.
Mr. Donoghue added: “The lack of places to live is actually forcing school-leavers out of college altogether. Either they don’t go in the first place or end up having to drop out because they can’t get a room and commuting is just too expensive, stressful and difficult.”
Claims have emerged from the country that some students have been forced to sleep in cars, or out on the streets, because of the enormous increases to rent in the capital. Those who have been lucky enough to find a place to live have had to do so ‘blind’ by paying for accommodation, months in advance, they haven’t even seen just so they will have a roof over their head over the coming year.
According to the Irish Independent, it’s the ‘Google effect’ which is to blame. As Google and other blue-chip companies open offices in and around Dublin’s docklands area, which are ‘on the doorstep of the city’, international professionals have been flocking to the area which will boast 2,600 more apartments, on 50 acres of undeveloped land, over the next three to 10 years.
Rent in the area soared by 15 per cent last year and a two-bedroom apartment overlooking the Grand Canal costs €2,100 (£1,500) per month to rent. Another two-bedroom apartment at Hanover Dock costs €2,350 (almost £1,700) with a three-bedroom penthouse – measuring some 136 square metres – sits at €4,500 (£3,200) per month in rent.
Ireland’s Higher Education Authority admitted this was the first time they had seen circumstances ‘so extreme’ and the Fianna Fáil party leader, Michael Martin, urged on the Government to intervene. He said: “It is very worrying that all of the progress in opening up access to higher education in the last decade – particularly for the working poor – is being derailed because of an entirely foreseeable accommodation crisis.
Also Read:
The Students Problem Reading Answers Sample Questions with Explanations
Questions 1–5: True / False / Not Given
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage?
Write:
TRUE – if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE – if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN – if there is no information on this
|
Question
|
Statement
|
Answer
|
Explanation
|
|
1
|
Some students are forced to sleep outdoors due to the lack of accommodation.
|
TRUE
|
Paragraph 1 mentions students "sleeping rough" and in their cars.
|
|
2
|
Kevin Donoghue is the president of a housing association.
|
FALSE
|
He is the deputy president of the Union of Students in Ireland.
|
|
3
|
The number of students in Ireland has decreased in the past decade.
|
FALSE
|
The passage states the number is increasing and expected to reach 200,000.
|
|
4
|
Students are only struggling to find housing in rural areas.
|
FALSE
|
The problem is described as especially bad in Dublin.
|
|
5
|
The government has announced a national student housing plan.
|
NOT GIVEN
|
While officials express concern, there's no mention of a specific plan being announced.
|
Questions 6–10: Matching Information
Match the statements with the correct paragraph (A–G).
|
Question
|
Statement
|
Answer
|
Explanation
|
|
6
|
The rising cost of accommodation is pushing students out of university.
|
D
|
Students drop out or avoid enrolling due to expensive housing and long commutes.
|
|
7
|
Renters must often pay without seeing the property in person.
|
E
|
Many students pay for rooms "blind" months in advance.
|
|
8
|
Big tech companies are contributing to the rent hike.
|
F
|
The "Google effect" and professionals moving in are increasing demand and rent.
|
|
9
|
Some students are commuting long distances daily.
|
A
|
Unusual and long commutes are mentioned as becoming normal.
|
|
10
|
Luxury apartments in Dublin are now extremely expensive.
|
F
|
Specific examples of high monthly rents are given.
|
Questions 11–13: Sentence Completion
Complete the sentences below with NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage.
|
Question
|
Sentence
|
Answer
|
Explanation
|
|
11
|
Some students share a _______ with strangers to have a place to sleep.
|
bed
|
Found in paragraph A: students are "paying to share a bed."
|
|
12
|
Dublin rent rose by _______ last year.
|
15 per cent
|
Paragraph F provides this statistic.
|
|
13
|
The accommodation shortage threatens progress in access to _______.
|
higher education
|
Paragraph G: the housing crisis is derailing access to higher education.
|
Guidance of PW IELTS
Physics Wallah offers a few popular online IELTS courses for all students. Follow the latest IELTS articles to better prepare for the exam.
