40 percent fall in part-time students

The number of students taking part-time courses has fallen nationally by 40 percent over the last two years, and Warwick is no exception to the trend.

While there were 571 part-time undergraduate students in 2010, last year there were 528.

Lucy Gill, Warwick Students’ Union postgraduate officer said: “[part-time students] are under-represented at university level.

“As a University, we should be doing more to understand the diverse needs of part-time students and be working to ensure that every Warwick student feels comfortable on campus.”

Part-time courses have a massively important role to play in making university-level education open to all and encouraging lifelong learning.”

A recent Universities UK study blamed reduced employer support and increased pressure in household budgets along with the trebling in tuition fees as the main deterrents against studying part-time.

There is no easy solution to this, although Miss Gill offered suggestions.

She commented: “Subsidised accommodation or cash bursaries for those from restricted income households would ease some of this financial pressure and allow more students to access university education.”

Encouraging part-time students to participate in campus life could increase their numbers at Warwick.

Miss Gill said: “We’ve seen a huge increase in postgraduate students getting involved in societies this year, and we’d love to see this reflected in part-time and mature student involvement too!”

At Warwick, part-time students comprise around 25 percent of the student body, with the majority of part-time degrees being postgraduate.