Universities offer cash-strapped students a three-day week to allow them to make ends meet with part-time jobsShorter weeks has not led to any reduction in fees as there are no fewer lectures

By Daily Mail Reporter

Updated: 17:56 EDT, 27 August 2023

Universities are switching to a three-day week to allow hard-up students time to make ends meet by taking on part-time jobs.

But the short study week has not led to any reduction in tuition fees because there are no fewer lectures.

Instead, the teaching time is concentrated into three or in some cases fewer days each week.

The notion that universities can deliver an education costing £9,000 a year in a three-day week will fuel questions as to whether students are getting value for money.

Rising rents, food and travel costs are driving many students into poverty.

The notion that universities can deliver an education costing £9,000 a year in a three-day week will fuel questions as to whether students are getting value for money

Maintenance loans are insufficient to cover living costs, while cash-strapped parents cannot fill the gap.

A number of universities have tried to address costs issues by offering two-year degree courses at a lower final price.

More than half of students now work alongside their studies, up from 34 per cent in 2021.

And two-thirds of freshers expect to get a part-time job to stay afloat, according to the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service.

At Coventry University's (CU) London campuses, students are taught over two-and-a-half days a week.

John Dishman, CU Group's pro vice-chancellor and chief executive officer, said: 'People just will not have access to courses unless it is built alongside their ability to work.'

New timetables at Roehampton University in south-west London allow students time to fit in paid work.

Teaching in the first year of most of its undergraduate degree courses will be scheduled on no more than three days a week.

De Montfort University, in Leicester, tested compact timetables last year in half of its courses and is introducing them across the board this autumn.

Vice-chancellor Professor Katie Normington told the Observer: 'A lot of students are working and have other responsibilities.'

De Montfort University, in Leicester, tested compact timetables last year in half of its courses and is introducing them across the board this autumn (file image)

A shorter studying week of two or three days is offered at Sunderland, Anglia Ruskin universities' London campuses and at the University of Law, which has 16 campuses around England.

In this year's student experience survey, commissioned by Advance HE and the Higher Education Policy Institute, money worries ranked as a major factor by students thinking of dropping out.

Chris McGovern, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said: 'For universities, the advantage of a three-day teaching week is to give students time to earn money, so they have enough cash to be fully ripped-off.

'It is a national scandal being promoted by university spivs, dishonestly claiming to be acting in the best interests of young people.'

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