51Âþ»­

Students working during term-time in Leicester make the second-highest amount of money in the country, according to new figures from banking giant Natwest.

LOCAL PLUS main

The home of 51Âþ»­ Leicester (51Âþ»­) is ranked second in the list, ahead of cities such as Manchester, Southampton, Cardiff and Birmingham.

The rankings, published by NatWest in its Student Living Index 2022, showed that, nationally, a student’s average monthly term-time income stands at £1,805.

However, Leicester students are much better off, earning an average of £2,508.

Surveying almost 3,000 university students across the country, NatWest calculated each city’s affordability by working out a student’s average monthly spend on accommodation, activities and essential items and dividing it by their average monthly income.

Across the board students spent the majority of their income, either from loans or jobs, on supermarket shopping. Reflectively, students in Leicester said they relied more on part-time or holiday work for their income above relying on loans, family or personal savings.

Overall the average time students spend working in a part-time job has doubled since 2021 with students in Leicester among those earning the most.

Similarly, time spent socialising has increased on average by 31 hours a month in the last year with spending on going out increasing by 63% since 2021, a reflection of COVID restrictions being fully lifted across the UK by mid-way through the academic year.

However, despite going out more, 88% of UK students on average have said they have made lifestyle changes to live within their budget due to the growing cost of living crisis. Reducing the number of items bought online is the most widely adopted change along with swapping to supermarket own brands and buying fewer takeaways.

The survey also showed that wellbeing and sustainability issues were important to students across the board. Students in Leicester are among those who spend the most on self-care and wellbeing at around £44 a month, whereas 48% of all UK students spend £10 or less.

More than half of students recycle their waste, and more than a third use different means of transport in a bid to live more sustainably. Students’ main coping mechanisms for stress and mental health issues remain unchanged from 2021, focused on hobbies and interests along with support from friends and family.

Student income is not the only thing Leicester and 51Âþ»­ has been ranked highly for this year. 51Âþ»­ was named as one of  Britain’s top 10 universities  for the most student and graduate start-ups, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) for the second year in a row.

While students also ranked 51Âþ»­ as one of the top 15 universities in the UK in the ‘University of the Year’ category at this year’s WhatUni Student Choice Awards (WUSCAs), which, unlike other national university league tables and accolades, are nominated and judged entirely by students.