Studying for degree ‘still like part-time job’ despite huge rise in tuition fees

The study raises fresh questions about standards, revealing that on average an undergraduate at an English university spends about 900 hours a year on their studies, about 300 hours less than recommended by a higher education watchdog.

Studying for a degree at an English university is still “more like a part-time than a full-time job”, according to the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), which co-authored the report.

The study also highlights stark differences between institutions and between courses in the amount of time students spend with lecturers, and suggests that some undergraduates are studying for less than half the hours of their peers.

The 2013 Student Academic Experience survey, produced by HEPI and Which? questioned thousands of students at UK universities for their views of their courses.

The findings show that the total student workload – both time spent in lectures and private study – now averages about 30 hours a week, equivalent to around 900 hours for each 29-week academic year.

This is around 25 per cent less than the 1,200 hours suggested by the Quality Assurance Agency, the study says. HEPI’s report on the survey says: “In our previous report we commented that study at an English university was more like a part-time than a full-time job, and so it has proved again.”

The survey also shows that since the first HEPI Academic Experience survey was conducted in 2006, just before tuition fees rose from £1,000 to £3,000, the amount of “contact hours” – time spent with academics in lecturers and seminars – has risen by just 20 minutes a week. During this same period, fees have risen nine-fold from £1,000 a year to a maximum of £9,000 a year at English universities. Students are getting just eight minutes extra with lecturers compared to 2007, when fees were £3,000 a year.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said: “We want the best possible match between students and institutions.

“People must be able to make informed decisions about what and where to study. That’s why we introduced the key information set, which compares a range of data at course level on costs satisfaction and outcomes.

“Institutions should explain to prospective students how their course will be delivered in order to help them make the right decisions.”