< BACK TO CONTENTS UNITE STUDENTS | THE IMPACT OF SOCIOECONOMIC BACKGROUND ON THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE > “I knew I wanted to go [to university] but I kind of had to take a year out just to work and save up.” For those who needed to work long hours during term time for financial reasons, this could be onerous, causing them to miss out on other experiences or compromise their academic deadlines. “Last week I worked 30 hours and I had to hand in the draft of my dissertation the same week.” However, there were also students who had part time work with, or related to, the university. They tended to have a better balance between work, study and socialising, more flexibility and were happy with the work they were doing. Working for the university also helped them to draw boundaries around their hours and reach a good balance. In addition to part-time work, issues around graduate work were raised. A student on a professional course had heard peers talk about family connections that would lead to a more lucrative career, which reinforced the ongoing disadvantage that the student faced after graduation. FINANCIAL SKILLS Students generally considered themselves to have sound financial skills which in most cases were learned from their family. They took pride in good planning and budgeting, ability to shop around and find amazing bargains, create savings for emergencies and for treats, and making prudent decisions. There was also an appreciation of “treats”, from small items to trips and nights out, which they had earned through work and good planning. This was sometimes contrasted with other students who lacked these skills and could be “wasteful”. “I see a lot of university students just spend, spend, spend all day. And I’m really not that way. And yeah, probably because my parents weren’t either.” Students also leveraged other skills and assets to help them keep to budget, such as finding second hand items, meal planning and prepping or, for those living with family, taking in leftovers. “I’ll never buy brand new clothes… my grandma loves charity shops, I’ve always gone with her my whole life and that’s just what I plan to keep doing.” While a few students had experienced challenging financial periods, they had drawn on their skills to get them through. FINANCE AND WORK