Marvin OnumonuMore than two-thirds of full-time students in the UK were working paid jobs in term time, according to the Student Academic Experience Survey (SAES) carried out by Advance HE and the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI).
The survey found that 68% of undergraduates had a job during term, up from 56% in 2024 and 42% in 2020.
Students said they spent less time on independent study as they tried to balance work and study.
Average hours for independent study dropped from 13.6 per week in 2024 to 11.6 in 2025.
Only 37% of students felt their course was good value for money, down from 39% last year, and 29% said it was poor value.
A quarter (26%) of students said their experience had exceeded expectations, up from 22% in 2024 and twice the figure from 2021.
Around 11% said they would choose a different route outside higher education if they were deciding now, nearly double the 6% who said this in 2024.
Additionally, the survey asked about mental health support, with 40% of students saying universities should offer comprehensive mental health services, even for severe and complex needs.
Results pointed to a need for better support for students from different qualification backgrounds, both UK and overseas.
International students were more likely to work during term, at 77%, compared to 65% of home students.
Alison Johns, CEO of Advance HE, said: “While the higher education sector faces significant financial challenges, it’s encouraging to see evidence of resilience in the student experience.
“The quality of teaching and assessment feedback remains strong, and more students are having their expectations exceeded than ever before.
“However, the striking increase in students undertaking paid work alongside their studies signals a fundamental shift – and institutions will be thinking carefully about how they accommodate this change.”
Johns added: “We need to consider how teaching, learning and support can evolve to better serve students who are balancing multiple commitments while maintaining academic quality.”
Nick Hillman, director of HEPI, said: “This is an extraordinarily important survey because it not sanitised like some of the official surveys, because it has been running for two decades and because it is large, covering over 10,000 students each year.
“The benefits of tracking students over time are proven this year because we can see in positive ways that the post-COVID generation of undergraduates are doing better than their immediate predecessors.
“However, not everything is rosy for either students or institutions. Given the severe funding challenges, many students are struggling to pay their bills and institutions are often struggling to provide their students with what they expect, though both students and staff have also displayed considerable resilience in the face of adversity.”
Hillman added: “The fact that a large majority of students now undertake paid work during term time, and often at a high number of hours each week, suggests the student experience is completely different to the norm when today’s policymakers were in higher education.”
