The Policy and Impact team at the University of Nottingham Students’ Union has published some research into student working patterns, finding that roughly one in three students at the University of Nottingham hold some form of part-time work alongside their study, averaging 5-15 hours per week.
These findings suggest that, whilst students who work are not a majority, it is the norm, and a substantial amount of those who don’t work do so for the lack of availability, or success finding appropriate employment. The majority of students who work also do so out of financial necessity, to cover their living expenses, suggesting previous ideas of students working ‘to earn some extra beer money’ have fallen by the wayside as more and more students work to survive.