University years really are the best of students' lives, past graduates tell Leeds Beckett University survey

Most important advice graduates of yesteryear would give to today's students would be to manage their money effectively and to go to lectures

(Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

With high tuition fees, soaring living costs, and grant cuts galore, today’s students may find it hard to believe the old saying that university years are the best years of your life.

However, that’s exactly what a majority of graduates – who left university at least ten years ago – have told a new survey, with 65 per cent revealing they still rate their time on campus as being the best time of their lives so far.

Leeds Beckett University spoke with over 1,000 ex-students to also find 39 per cent of Brits admit university was the place where they found love. 16 per cent admitted to meeting their future spouse – either on a night out (25 per cent), in halls (15 per cent), or in a lecture theatre (14 per cent).

Around half of the 35 to 65-year-olds surveyed added they had met their best friend for life while studying together, with lecture theatres being the key ground for forming new friendships (39 per cent).

This year’s undergraduates-to-be can also take comfort in the fact they will be most likely to meet their best friend at university within the first few months of starting. 16 per cent even admitted to meeting their best friend on the first day, and nearly a quarter paired-up during Freshers’ Week.

Deputy vice chancellor at Leeds Beckett University, Professor Paul Smith, described how next month will be an important time for students who are making plans to start university – with one of their biggest worries being that they won’t make friends or may feel lonely.

Giving prospective degree-seekers some words of comfort, the professor added: “The results of this study show people make friends for life at university, so there really is nothing to fear.

“Every university activity and event brings the chance to meet new, different, and exciting people and establish social networks that can serve them all their adult lives.”

Other findings showed 87 per cent of past graduates would strongly recommend going to university, and 65 per cent felt working independently was the most valuable skill learnt during their time studying.

If there’s one piece of advice past graduates would give to today’s students, 76 per cent said managing money effectively was the most important thing for first-years to bear in mind, while 75 per cent said they would urge today’s students to go to lectures.