ok, 1st year at uni..how many hours did you manage to work??

Rummer

I would focus less on the number of hours and more on the amount you need to survive, jobs like call centres offer flexible hours and often a higher salary than retail. In all honesty that was how we did it, worked out what money we needed then found a job with the least number of hours that would get us that money.

pennylessstudent

Personally I haven't worked at all during term time, and don't think I really have had masses of free time when I could have worked. The extra income would help but I was in uni at least half days for either 4 or 5 days a week in both 1st year and 2nd year. And out of uni I've had more work to do for my course, it hasn't been consistant either, sometimes I have not much to do but other times I struggle to meet all the deadlines with a good standard of work so I don't feel on my course I could have had a job. I work during the summer holidays and have got a small amount of savings that I also have to dip into every now and again, I also make use of the interest free overdraft.

dieselhead

I worked 16 per week for my first year and cut down as the years went on and thanks to savings was able not to work in my final year.

brians_daughter

Thanks everyone! Its been helpful to see what others can manage! Fingers crossed i should only need to work the 1st year, then summer should help to see us through the next year

**purpleprincess**

Not long completed my first year at uni, and I worked 16-20 hours a week. Even during my teaching placement. I will continue to do this in year 2, will make a decision on year 3 and 4 as they come.

Hope this helps!

studentgirl_2

Evening all, Well I thought I would add my bit, I have just finished my nurising degree we are in full time placement for most of the year as well as uni. I also traveled for about 4 hours a day to get to uni/placement. I did this with two kids. Im not sure what advice I can offer as i hated every min of it.

I think meal planning was a good idea. done once a month ( see old stye ) it was just one less thing to think about.

On line food shopping saved me lots of time.

Planning all of my work, I had a big wall planner in my bedroom. It had on it all due in dates ect. I would plan this even further week by week, braking down each essay ( intro by xx date ) it was small and managable.

The kids had one full weeks of uniform that I washed on saturday. again timetableing my life.

One writing this I realise how sad I was, but it got me through it. Good luck brians daughter. x

lawrie28

It depends on the course. in my first year, I had 6 subjects a week with 3 hours (usually 2) per subject, so did 12-15 uni hours on a variety of days. I worked in a callcentre with flexi hours.

Yr two lectures drppoed to 12 hours max, and then 8 hours in year 3.

Managed to work loads, as well as do my non supervised study.

I think if you said the course and uni you are attending someone may giive you a better idea.

sugarcultsweetie

To add my 10 cents...

I am partway through an English literature degree, which has only 6 hours worth of lectures and seminars, the bulk of the work being individual reading, researching, and essay writing. I worked part time on a varying rota (retail) - a path which I would highly recommend to any students with few mandatory hours in uni, as, my work at least, were very good at adapting shifts around timetables - and I was free every evening.

However, there was the unavoidable Christmas rush which increased the hours and stress, on top of impending January exams. I did feel a little overwhelmed at this point.

My rota could vary from 6-24 hours a week, and I think that these are realistic hours - however, as a newcomer to higher education I did find it a bit of a struggle staying on top of things.

Fire_Fox

brians_daughter wrote: »

Years 2 and 3 aren't so much an issue as i will be moving back in with family (at the grand old age of 32!) once i have managed to sell the house i am in at the moment - but with houses round here they are typically on the market for around 9 months at the moment prior to selling - so i am kind of (foolishly maybe?) using this as my guideline.

I am a mature student with my own home too. Sorry it's slightly off topic but have you thought about taking in a lodger? If you have a spare room move into the smallest one and let the bigger one as a bedsit. You could even find someone who'd be willing to help with the kids in return for cheaper rent. The income is tax free up to about £4000 a year, and it doesn't affect your entitlement to student finance.

MissPop

Am I the only one who thinks it is stupid and naive to go with the "Your first year doesn't count towards your final grade so it doesn't matter" mindset? I think it's incredibly irresponsible to think like that. And not all first year students "drink their livers into oblivion". I think it is a very bad idea to work full time on top of a full time degree - AFAIK, many unis set guidelines to the number of hours students may work during term time. Even if you only have a small number of actual contact hours, you will still need to spend a lot of time reading, researching, writing essays and assignments etc, and you will need some time to relax (especially with your kids!) Surely it is better to put your full effort into working towards your degree from day 1 than to do a half-arsed job of it in your first year "because it doesn't count"? Anyway, from my experience, you will have to pass a certain number of assignments/attain a certain average grade/pass your end of year exams to progress to the next year - wouldn't it be a crying shame if you didn't manage it because you were more concerned with working as many hours as you could?