Will I have time in uni to work? Will I earn anything?

I will be an international student in the UK next year, and I am trying to determine how good of a uni I can go to. I will have about 30k US dollars saved up, which really isn't enough without lots of debt. So, has anyone worked in university? How much did you work, how much did you earn, and did you find yourself struggling to complete schoolwork? I am definitely planning to work, but if I can't do enough hours to gain money, I can't go to an expensive uni.
Edit: my major is forensic psychology.

Hey,

I did psychology as well so hopefully can offer some insight into the workload! Whilst it will depend on what university you go to, you're not normally at uni all day every day, and normally have most evenings free as well as free time during the day. I found that most of the time you have free time during the day and I would just spend time during the day doing my assignments in between or after lectures. I worked a part-time job during most of my time at uni, and normally worked a few evenings and some weekends and still found I had plenty of time during the day to manage the workload!

In terms of pay, I think most part-time retail/food/bar jobs in the UK normally pay around £10-15 an hour, so if you work 8-15 hours a week you'll make at least an extra £80-150 a week (and that's on the lower end of things), which should definitely help with living expenses! Whilst I'm not an international student and had my accommodation etc. covered by my student loan, I found I spent around £30-40 a week on food (this was a few years ago) and the rest just went on socialising/general spending so in my experience, it was doable! However of course this will depend on your personal expenses.

Also, when you do get to uni, I'd definitely recommend getting a job on campus, as they tend to pay more than most other jobs and are often most flexible around your studies and university life!

Best of luck with everything & hope this helped a little bit!

Natalie
University of Kent Student Rep

Aren't you limited by your student visa as to how much you can work anyway?

I will be an international student in the UK next year, and I am trying to determine how good of a uni I can go to. I will have about 30k US dollars saved up, which really isn't enough without lots of debt. So, has anyone worked in university? How much did you work, how much did you earn, and did you find yourself struggling to complete schoolwork? I am definitely planning to work, but if I can't do enough hours to gain money, I can't go to an expensive uni.
Edit: my major is forensic psychology.

I will be an international student in the UK next year, and I am trying to determine how good of a uni I can go to. I will have about 30k US dollars saved up, which really isn't enough without lots of debt. So, has anyone worked in university? How much did you work, how much did you earn, and did you find yourself struggling to complete schoolwork? I am definitely planning to work, but if I can't do enough hours to gain money, I can't go to an expensive uni.
Edit: my major is forensic psychology.

Yes, I'll have to wait to see on my visa, but the max is 20 hours per week usually, which is plenty for me.

I will be an international student in the UK next year, and I am trying to determine how good of a uni I can go to. I will have about 30k US dollars saved up, which really isn't enough without lots of debt. So, has anyone worked in university? How much did you work, how much did you earn, and did you find yourself struggling to complete schoolwork? I am definitely planning to work, but if I can't do enough hours to gain money, I can't go to an expensive uni.
Edit: my major is forensic psychology.

Note that just because you can work 20 hours a week doesn't mean you should. Based on experience I would really not recommend more than 8-12 hours a week of work during term time if you're studying full time; maybe 15 at most. It's a very big commitment on top of a full time degree (bear in mind for full time study you're expected to spend approximately equivalent time to full-time work on the course - so 35-40 hours a week during term time, although most students effectively do less than that as some of that time is picked up out of term on assignments etc), and will be hard to balance doing well in your studies.

Also note that it may be challenging to find a job able to offer you that many hours which manage to completely avoid any clashes with your academic timetable (and remember your timetable may change between terms). As I understand it international students on student visas need to have their attendance recorded by lecturers to meet the requirements of their visa so you also don't have the potential to skip out on lectures and self-study the missed material to enable you to do a job during the time of that lecture.

Yes, that is why I said "that is plenty for me." Meaning that I didn't want to work that many. I was planning on 10 hours a week. Also, although my current college is just a plain, low-stress US college, I am managing full time college plus 25-35 hours a week work, volunteering, AP high school class, and high school sports without a problem. I'm sure UK university will be much harder, so that is why I would only be doing 10 hours a week work and my classes; no extracurricular activities for me.

Yes, that is why I said "that is plenty for me." Meaning that I didn't want to work that many. I was planning on 10 hours a week. Also, although my current college is just a plain, low-stress US college, I am managing full time college plus 25-35 hours a week work, volunteering, AP high school class, and high school sports without a problem. I'm sure UK university will be much harder, so that is why I would only be doing 10 hours a week work and my classes; no extracurricular activities for me.