Students make light work of their 20-hour weeks

“A university is just a group of buildings gathered around a library,” wrote the American historian, Shelby Foote. It turns out that students are just a group of people who agree.

Undergraduates at some universities are studying for only 20 hours a week — half the time judged necessary for a degree.

Many universities are failing to ensure that undergraduates are pushed to work harder in lectures, seminars and private study, the survey commissioned by the Higher Education Policy Institute thinkthank (HEPI) and consumer group Which? has suggested.