Majority of university students juggling paid work and studying amid cost-of-living crisis, survey reveals

More than three in four university students feel that the cost-of-living crisis has affected their studies

File image: Students’ attendance in class and study time could be affected by a rise in the average number of hours spent in employment, experts say (PA)

The majority of full-time university students are juggling paid work and studies amid the cost-of-living crisis, a survey suggests.

Students’ attendance in class and study time could be affected by a rise in the average number of hours spent in employment, according to the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) think tank and Advance HE report.

More than three in four (76 per cent) university students feel that the cost-of-living crisis has affected their studies, research has found.

The proportion of university students who say they are in paid employment while studying has increased from 45 per cent to 55 per cent over the past year – and it has reached the highest level recorded by the think tank.

The study, based on a survey of 10,163 full-time undergraduates studying in the UK, found the average time spent working is 13.5 hours per week among the students who reported being in paid employment.

Somewhere between 12 and 17 hours paid employment is the danger zone because you're doing a really intense paid job on top of a full-time course

Nick Hillman, director of Hepi

“This suggests more students may be undertaking so much paid work it could adversely affect their studies,” according to the report.

It adds that the rise appears to reflect “the financial pressures that many students are under”.

The 2023 Student Academic Experience Survey, which was carried out between January and March, suggests that students in paid employment are  more likely to consider leaving their course compared to their peers.

“A reasonable assumption here is that the demands of balancing work and study are creating pressures that are leading to the prospect of non-continuation for some,” the study said.

Nick Hillman, director of Hepi, told a press briefing in London: “Somewhere between 12 and 17 hours paid employment is the danger zone because you’re doing a really intense paid job on top of a full-time course.

“Everybody in the survey are full-time students so they should all be doing something similar to a full-time job and the average working hours is 33/34 hours.

“So if you’re doing 17 hours paid work on top of that, or 20 hours paid work on top of that, that’s when it really affects your studies and it makes you more likely to drop out, less likely to do well in your degree.”

Universities are doing their bit by increasing hardship funding, offering subsidised or free food on campus and increasing other forms of pastoral support, but there is a limit to what they can do without action from government

Universities UK spokesperson

The report found that 26 per cent of students said their studies were affected “a lot” by the cost-of-living crisis, while 50 per cent of students said that their studies were impacted “a little”.

Mr Hillman added that the survey shows that most students are being affected in “adverse ways” by the cost-of-living crisis.

“The increase in the proportion of students who feel compelled to do so many hours of paid employment that their studies may suffer seems a particularly acute challenge,” he said.

The report calls on the Government to urgently look at the level of maintenance support on offer to undergraduates in light of the findings.

Rose Stephenson, director of policy and advocacy at Hepi, said: “There’s a risk here that students who, for a multitude of reasons are less able to rely on financial support from their families and therefore need to rely on maintenance loans or paid employment, are being disadvantaged and we can see that their studies are more likely to be affected.

“This risks entrenching inequality through higher education rather than combating it.”

The survey also found that more than one in four students (26 per cent) said they feel lonely all or most of the time, compared with 23 per cent last year.

Students living at home with family, in non-university halls or in a house on their own are more likely to experience loneliness than those in university halls, or in a flat or house with others, the report said.

A Universities UK spokesperson said: “This data definitively shows that students’ university experience is being negatively impacted by the cost-of-living crisis.

“The vast majority feel that their ability to study has been affected, with many having to take on increased hours working to make ends meet.

“We need Government to act fast to increase the amount of maintenance support for students.

“Universities are doing their bit by increasing hardship funding, offering subsidised or free food on campus and increasing other forms of pastoral support, but there is a limit to what they can do without action from government.”