UK’s best paying student jobs revealed: Construction paves the way, with Accountancy cashing in second

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As the academic year kicks off and new data shows that there are more job vacancies in the UK than ever before¹, a leading job website has found that the construction, accountancy and marketing sectors offer the highest hourly pay for students.

• Leeds students are the highest paid for part-time work in the UK
• Most vacancies in social care and hospitality industries
• Cleaning and warehouse work are among the lowest paid student professions

With graduates facing levels of debt like never before – the latest figures from educational think tank Sutton Trust suggest the average is £44,000² – earning a crust while studying is becoming essential.

The analysis of 2,000 part time jobs conducted by online job site CV-Library, pulled vacancy data from 15 university cities³ looking at hourly/weekly pay, weekly hours of work and industry.

The highest paying industries for part time student jobs are:

The highest paying cities for student part time jobs are:

Student jobs in London are the most numerous, with nearly a third of all suitable jobs on CV-Library originating from the capital – the majority of these being in hospitality. Jobs in Birmingham, Reading and Coventry follow with 11 per cent, nine per cent and nine per cent of all student jobs across our 15 cities.

Looking across to the Emerald Isle, the majority of the jobs in Dublin, a popular city for students across the UK, are within the administration sector and retail a close second.

In terms of which industries have the most vacancies for students, social care (14 per cent of all vacancies), hospitality (13 per cent), education (10 per cent) and admin (10 per cent) lead the way.

Lee Biggins, founder and managing director of CV-Library said: “Taking on a part-time job while pursuing a degree or course is hard work, but thebenefits are typically greater than the amount of a paycheck.”

“What we would recommend is that you choose a job that is flexible. Zero-hours contracts are a good option, or choose a bigger company which can accommodate for any shift swaps you might need to do.

“It also helps to try to choose something that will help you gain experience in an area you are interested in. For example, if you’re doing a health and social care course then you’d be wise to work part-time in caring, adding to your skillsets for when you enter the working world full time.”