A new Child Poverty Action Group report is aimed at schooling-up politicians on student struggles.

The State of Student Hardship report is due to be released tomorrow, and researcher Max Lin said it shows one-in-six students are in severe financial distress.

Max Lin said it's not uncommon for students to struggle with rent, food, or medical expenses.

"Politicians and the public need to recognise this is a problem. This is not one out of the ordinary. We want politicians from across the spectrum to first recognise the problem."

"We don't tend to have all the solutions, but hopefully they will discuss the report and come up with their own comprehensive solution," he said.

Lin said one-in-six students are in severe financial hardship - meaning they can't afford accommodation or food.

"One of the cases we found was that a student had to live in a two-bedroom apartment with five other students, and that's obviously just so that he could survive. He found the situation so stressful that he had to take time off the study."

He said the student was working towards a Bachelor of Engineering, and shouldn't have been hindered in his studies.

Lin said both student allowances and living costs support aren't enough - with many students struggling to juggle more than 15 hours a week of work on top of study hours, just to pay their rent.