Ahead of her January deadlines, Megan Allen, a second-year student, spent December and part of November working full-time in a bar in Leeds. Allen, 19, and studying sociology at Leeds Beckett University, knew her coursework was suffering as she clocked up 40 hours a week in the bar, but needed the money. “I actually have to work – when the opportunity comes up, I can’t say no,” she said. “I definitely didn’t put enough into the things that I handed in, it wasn’t my best work at all.”
After the Christmas rush, Allen went back to working her normal hours – 20 hours a week on top of her full-time degree. Working three to four shifts weekly has been tough: “I don’t have enough time. My days off from work are not off, because I’m doing uni work – I’ve got no time to myself at all.” Allen, who receives the minimum maintenance loan, said: “I don’t get regular money from my family – I’ll get some support from my mum if I really need it, but I hate asking.”
