Amidst the current cost of living crisis, many students are struggling to afford university life, and this is resulting in a significant number of students missing out on their education to work a part-time or full-time job.
An opinion poll run by education charity, the Sutton Trust, has discovered that 49% of those surveyed have missed a timetabled lecture, workshop, or seminar in the past year to do paid work instead. Almost a third of respondents answered that they had done this more than once since September.
The average cost of living for students has increased by 12.3% in the past year, leaving a shortfall of around £439 a month between maintenance loan allowance and the typical cost of living, according to the website 'Save the Student'. This gap between loan allowance and the price of student life has increased by £216 since 2020.
Average cost of living for students has increased by 12.3% in the past year, leaving a shortfall of around £439 a month
The government has announced that maintenance loans will go up by 2.8% in the next academic year, an amount deemed “woefully inadequate” by those in the education sector, according to The Guardian.
It is therefore unsurprising that many students are having to miss out on timetabled lectures or other scheduled learning in order to make up the extra money needed to live. FEnews reports that 52% of students now work either part-time or full-time jobs alongside their degree to fund their “basic lifestyle”. They also found that more than half of students felt that rising costs were “ruining” their university experience, with 70% having considered dropping out of university at some point during their degree - the cost of living being a major reason for this.
In the same study, 69% of all students answered that they had adjusted their spending over the last term because of rising costs. More than 50% stated that they had cut back on social activities such as nights out and going out to eat. As well as this, over a third of respondents said that they were reducing their spending on essential items such as basic groceries and heating bills.
Chloe Field, Vice President for Higher Education at the National Union of Students, has said that these statistics are “extremely disheartening, but unsurprising”, and that “while the Government has offered some financial support, it hasn’t gone nearly far enough”. Across the country, students are feeling the struggle of having to balance work and university.
This is something that has affected many students at Newcastle University. Leanna Thomson, a current MA student at Newcastle, shared her experiences with juggling university and paid work:
“As someone who works a 16-hour job alongside my masters course, I really feel like I’m constantly rushing between my lectures and my workplace, so when I get home I’m far too exhausted to get any prep work done. I don’t really have the option to reduce my hours because with the rising cost of living my everyday expenses are so high.”
A recent graduate from Newcastle University, Alice Plumpton, also gave her opinion as a student who worked part-time alongside her studies. “I never let uni and work [timetables] clash, I worked around my uni timetable as my work understood university came first. Of course, that didn’t stop me from doing overtime when I could.” She also stated that work was necessary for her to “fund her social life”.
Testimonies like this demonstrate that even if students aren’t skipping lectures to work, they are still taking every opportunity to do paid work outside of contact hours, which, of course, can have a detrimental effect on their quality of education.
The cost of living crisis is having a detrimental effect on students across the country. With so many finding that having to work alongside their studies is affecting their education, this may have a serious impact on grades.
