Last updated: October 2007
Comment: Lazy Students?

Are we taking our studies and indeed ourselves seriously? Or is going off to uni simply the perfect excuse to drink vast amounts of alcohol’

Take the most efficient, energetic, enthusiastic person in the world and put them into a typical university environment.

What happens? They become the well-known stereotype that is the lazy student. Early starts and healthy dinners morph into long lie-ins and an array of super noodle meals.

Anything beginning before 3pm becomes impossible to get up for and getting from one side of your over-crowded bedroom to the other is increasingly difficult.

Some people may wonder where all this unused energy goes. Unfortunately the answer isn’t in to our studies. According to the Higher Education Policy, the average UK student only dedicates around 26 hours per week to the study of their course - this includes time spent in lectures and obligatory seminars.

Even more worryingly, the vice chancellor’s Group believe that, due to certain course choices made by the students themselves, some weeks only 8 hours of study is undergone, meaning no extra work or effort has been made.

As a result of this, some thought has been put into the proper terminology of our studies. For example, should an undergraduate student studying for around 12 hours or less a week technically still be classed as a ‘full-time’ student?

Some people argue that because it is the student’s individual choice of how many hours they spend studying in their spare time that they should be considered ‘part-time’ students if they do not dedicate enough time to it.

However, is this strictly fair as one of the biggest (and most challenging) advantages of moving to university is gaining independence and having the ability to choose for yourself?

Surely this incorporates everything, including how much time said student spends memorising lectures and preparing for seminars? It is, after all, the individuals themselves who will suffer in the end if their enthusiasm for work is lacking.

It is also thought that technical and scientific subjects demand more input than more socially orientated ones such as humanities studies. This is believed to be due to the fact that the content of these subjects is more challenging and difficult to remember.

Another problem concerned with lack of motivation and study is that it is a highly daunting prospect to potential students and their parents as it raises the question; what do students actually do with their time?

Apparently the obvious answer for UK students is drinking and socialising, as it has been stated that we spend an obscene amount of our spare time haunting bars at the union or local pub. Beats 12,000 word essays any day, but what benefits are we actually managing to grasp whilst here?
In comparison to our European counterparts, we are most certainly not taking full advantage of the opportunity at hand.

According to the Digital Journal, university students in Germany dedicate around 35 hours to the study of their courses, proving that there is always work to be done.

However, even these hard workers fall short compared to the knuckled-down attitudes of students in Portugal, where around 40 hours is seen as normal for weekly revision.

This again causes us to question ourselves and how we, as a nation, view the university experience as a whole. Are we taking our studies and indeed ourselves seriously? Or is going off to uni simply the perfect excuse to drink vast amounts of alcohol and play around without the scrutinizing eyes of our parents and guardians? You decide.

Comment by Aimme Reilly