Debut research reveals how UK students are paying for university
This is pretty intense. We recently conducted a UK-wide survey of university students to find out how they’ve been coping with the rising costs of university. Worried about tuition fees rising and a too-small maintenance loan, we wondered exactly what lengths students would go to for a better living standard.
Here is a round-up of the most interesting statistics:
The foundation of UK students’ financial sources
No surprises here so far. When asked what students’ primary source of funding was, the usual student loans and the bank of mum and dad came up. Naturally, with reports saying that a maintenance loan is barely enough to cover “the cheapest halls of accommodation,” we thought to explore how students were supplementing their loan. The next series of statistics dives into this:
UK students are primarily aiming for conventional part-time jobs
Ah, bar work. A student part-time job classic that just keeps on giving. Retail is also a strong popular choice, with a whopping 73.68% of students willing to stack shelves. More dubious odd jobs such as stripping or escort work have come up. However these are at comparatively low percentages, and actual criminal activity seems pretty low on the list as well. (Phew).
UK students maintain a fairly strong moral and legal foundation
There are some things, no matter how desperate the situation, that students just won’t do. Cybercrime, theft and drug-dealing are considered pretty unacceptable for students – all sitting below 5%. Stripping, escort work, and gambling are slightly higher on the list, but not significant enough for us to warrant a student intervention, we don’t think.
However, a small percentage do know of people who have gone to extreme means to fund their studies
Someone always knows someone who’s done something a little bit crazy. This is evident in the findings: only 15.79% of students said they have seen absolutely no dubious activity in their student life. Thankfully, the ones who have seen or heard of fellow students conducting activities such as theft remains relatively low.
We can’t condone trying to obtain money through extreme means. However, times are hard, harder than ever. Who are we to judge?
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