Earn while you learn, at university

In a poll in January by the Sutton Trust, 27% of students said they had been forced to take on jobs or work longer hours as loans became stretched and other forms of income, such as parental support, dried up. A Ucas survey in April estimated the number of students working part-time was 43%. Graeme Atherton, director of the National Education Opportunities Network at the University of West London, said students working had become the “norm” in some institutions, meaning “ostensibly full-time students are actually part-time because they are working half the time”.

"Grade inflation" in Degrees awarded

Universities are facing investigations over the issue of grade inflation, the head of the Office for Students told a parliamentary committee. He said that the proportion of students achieving first-class degrees rose from 15.7% in 2011 to 37.9% in 2021, when universities were encouraged to be generous because of the negative effects of Covid. Last year, the proportion fell to about 32% but was still higher than the 30% figure from 2019. Universities have said they intend to rein in the number of firsts given and return them to pre-pandemic levels.