Research by working students calling for additional mitigations was “sidelined” by department heads, campaigners say.
A report by the UCL History First-in-Family and Working Students Network (FIFWS) called on the Department to grant students working a certain number of hours a week access to Summary Reasonable Adjustment extensions.
But the group said its findings were dismissed by a departmental tutor after being given less than five minutes to present its 3,000-word report at an EDI meeting last February.
The report said: “Unless [UCL] is willing to offer greater financial support… the lives and academic outputs of working students will continue to be of a lower quality on average than of those students privileged enough not to work.
“Academic adjustments will not solve all the problems of working students, but they may alleviate some pressure and would be a symbolic show of support for working students, something we feel is entirely lacking from UCL as an institution.”
Unlevel playing field
The University currently expects students to delegate 35 hours to studies, but working students are employed for an average of 10-20 hours a week. This means on average, students engaging in paid work will work between 45-55 hours, not including time spent travelling, breaks, or socialising.
FIFWS research found the average working student in the History Department loses two days a week to work commitments, while two-thirds noted work commitments damage their mental health by increasing anxiety and stress levels.
Its findings were consistent with the national trend, where almost half (49.1%) of UK university students said they missed lectures to do paid work while just under a quarter (23.5%) admitted to missing deadlines, according to Sutton Trust figures.
Rising costs and a broken student finance system have made attending university in the capital almost impossible for students from ordinary backgrounds.
A report by the Higher Education Policy Institute found the average annual cost for university accommodation has risen from £11,500 in 2022/23 to £13,595 in 2024/25, a figure higher than the maximum maintenance loan available for those studying in London (£13,348).
UCL doesn’t buck this trend, with accommodation prices rising by 17% on average during the same period, according to UCL Union research.
This means that students are at least £247 a year out of pocket, and that’s before you take into account the cost of food, transport, and other everyday expenses.
Student Finance England openly expects parents to contribute thousands of pounds in order to close this gap. But if their parents are unable to facilitate this financial demand, students have to work in order to afford living and studying in London.
'No sympathy' from Department
First-hand testimonies gathered by FIFWS included one working student who said they became “highly sleep-deprived” and barely ate as they attempted to keep up with university assignments.
Another respondent, who lost 40 hours a week to scheduled work and travel, said that they could not complete readings for their seminars due to time constraints.
The report called on the History Department to grant working students access to SoRA extensions.
But campaigners say the Department gave its findings and recommendations less than five minutes of consideration before dismissing them altogether.
One tutor was said to have rejected the recommendations as she misinterpreted the report as claiming that 81% of history students are in some form of paid work, and it would not be appropriate to give this many students SORA access.
In fact, the report clearly stated that 81% of respondents, not the cohort, were in some form of paid work and additionally recognised the sampling bias of the survey’s findings, with working students being more likely to answer.
SoRAs administration is a centralised process, meaning the History Department couldn’t implement such changes itself. But meeting minutes seen by The Cheese Grater reveal the Department showed no intention that it would raise these concerns with UCL’s central academic authorities.
It is important to note that since this report, UCL has implemented a delayed assessment permit (DAP), allowing students to apply for self-certified extensions.
However, FIFWS said this does not properly address the needs of working students due to the limited availability of DAPs, with only three permitted per year.
Juggling a 'vicious cycle'
The report also highlighted that working students don’t feel they have the time or money to socialise in London. James Adams, a student facilitator for FIFWS, believes that working students are at the centre of a “vicious cycle” when attempting to balance uni, work, and life.
He added that many students struggle to talk about this pressure, especially with non-working students and faculty staff, as they are often met with a lack of understanding or a “just work less” attitude.
While UCL is one of the most diverse universities in the UK in terms of ethnicity and nationalities, it is noticeably uniform in terms of social class and financial background.
Almost a third of UCL students were privately educated while just 4.3% grew up in a Low Participation Neighbourhood, the lowest of all Russell Group Universities.
The UCL 93% Club, a society representing state-educated students, said: “For most of our members, working during term time is a necessity.
“Yet, balancing paid work with academic life can feel worlds apart from the typical UCL ‘student’ experience—like jetting off on holiday during reading week, or working to add another post to LinkedIn rather than to cover living expenses.”
The Head of the UCL History Department Dr Antonio Sennis said: “The department is continuously working to support all its students.
“This specific issue was raised at the department’s EDI committee meeting in February, and the conversation is ongoing.”
This article appeared in CG89
