students

Students with more work have better mental health

It may well have something to do with getting value for money, which less and less students feel they've had since 2012

Students are paying through the nose for their education, but it's not necessarily making them happy – nor do they feel it's worth the debt.

What it means: Stats on wellbeing and mental health among students are a depressing sight. 14 per cent report life satisfaction, compared to 28 per cent of 20-24 year olds overall; and 17 per cent say they are happy, compared to 33 per cent of 20-24 year olds overall.

Here's the geeky part: the higher a student's workload, the less likely they are to report mental health issues. Those with 30-39 hours a week of work to do (that's lectures, seminars, and individual study time) were significantly more content than those with 1-9 hours a week.

Value for money is a huge issue for students: the proportion of students feeling they're getting their money's worth has been declining steadily since 2012 – i.e., right when the fees hiked up – but it's started going back up again ever so slightly from this year.

The subject whose students are most likely to perceive it as value for money are medicine students, with 62% saying it's worth it; by contrast, only 28% of business students feel the same.

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