£74m - that’s what students will spend in York next year

IN a working city such as York, students aren't always popular.

The student life is all endless parties and trips to the pub, lying-in until midday and never doing a stroke of work, or so the story goes. And God forbid you should be unlucky enough to live next to a student house - it will be noisy, dirty and uncared-for.

Just wait until they join the real world, we grumble, they won't know what has hit them.

Like all stereotypes, there isn't much truth in all of this. Yes, students do occasionally throw parties, admits history student Sylvia Rowley, who recently graduated from the University of York. They may come home late at night, and may enjoy the occasional lie-in at 11am.

But some of her housemates did two or three part-time jobs to supplement their meagre student loan, she points out. And swotting for exams is not easy.

What really annoys her about those who knock students, however, is that what they are doing is knocking education.

"I think people who say that kind of thing are not valuing education," she says. "They say students are lazy because we don't have a full-time job. But education is something to be valued."

Just as education is something to be valued so, it appears, are students. New figures released by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) in its student living index suggest that over the next year, students in York will spend almost £74 million in the city. That is a lot of money being pumped into the local economy.

The RBS estimates there are over 13,700 undergraduate students in York, who spend on average approximately £182 each week during term-time on rent and day-to-day living costs.

More than half of them take part-time jobs during term, earning on average £77 a week to supplement their student loans.

The RBS study claims that over the next year they will, between them, spend:

That comes as no surprise to York council leader Steve Galloway. He says it underlines the importance of the "learning sector" to the city's economy - and why that sector has always played such an important part in the city's economy.

Money spent by students in York benefits the whole city. The £25.5 million spent on rents is significant enough in itself, says Ian Furby, managing director of IG Property, which specialises in renting out student properties.

There is a knock-on effect too. Students won't put up with the grotty lodgings that might have been acceptable 20 years ago, he says. They want somewhere decent to live.

So landlords are investing in decoration and maintenance. "That is money spent on carpet fitting, paint supplies, DIY - all being spent in York," says Ian.

Locals shops benefit from what students spend, as do bars and pubs (naturally) and taxi firms. Evening takings on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are "much better" when the students are in town, says Ian Gillies, of Station Taxis.

Students contribute much more to York than simply money. They do voluntary work in the city for a start, points out James Player, deputy chief officer of Age Concern York.

"Quite a high proportion of our volunteers are students from St John's College and the university," he said. They do everything from befriending older people and visiting them in their homes, to doing their weekly shop for them.

"The voluntary sector in York would be much poorer if not for the students," James added.

Students also help out in local schools and at holiday summer camps for children, points out Steve Page, manager of student support services at the University of York.

They bring other benefits to the city too - everything from the outstanding student buskers we sometimes get on our streets, courtesy of the music department, to money raised for local causes by student rag week and other activities.

Students do sometimes get a bad press for being noisy neighbours, Steve admits. But while a small proportion may stay up late, party all night and leave rubbish everywhere, most make good, considerate neighbours - and are often more than willing to help their neighbours with tasks such as putting out the rubbish or doing a bit of shopping.

What of that old "town and gown" divide? Do the students who come here for a few years really get involved with the city at all - or are they just passing through?

Tina Baty, of The Lowther, in Cumberland Street, York, which is known as a student pub, insists that students mix happily with locals at the riverside boozer.

The pub can sometimes be heaving with students, especially if they are holding a special event or fundraiser.

But there is no conflict, Tina says. "You get the odd student who thinks they know more," says Tina. "But it is a nice, relaxed atmosphere, and everybody gets on well. We're known as a student pub, but there is a really diverse group of people coming here - students, plus a few older people and middle-aged people."

Anyway, it isn't true, points out Steve Page, that all the students who study here will simply move on when they graduate.

One of the great benefits to a city such as York is that many of the students end up living and working here.

So, some bright and able young people taking their places in the York workforce. Which is good news for all of us.

The student's tale: Sylvia Rowley

SYLVIA Rowley came up to the University of York from London three years ago to study history. Her first year, she admits, was fairly wild: there was a lot of partying, and perhaps not as much coursework done as there could have been.

"Everyone is trying to get to know each other, and usually the first year coursework doesn't count towards your degree," she says.

By the second year, however, she had moved with three housemates into a house in Tang Hall, and was beginning to buckle down.

The student life isn't as easy as some make out, she points out. The student loan is about £3,000 a year - which students have to pay back when they start earning - and while Sylvia's parents paid her £51 a week rent, some of her housemates weren't so lucky. "One of my housemates had three jobs because he had to pay his own rent," she says.

Even without having to pay her rent, Sylvia found it difficult to manage on her student loan. She didn't work during term-time, but did take a job in the holidays as an office temp to help make ends met.

While living in Tang Hall, they did have a complaint from one neighbour - but, by and large, got on well with their neighbours, Sylvia said. "We appreciated that they had small children. In fact, we made friends with our neighbours' children."

In her third year, Sylvia moved into a much larger house in Heslington Road, which was shared by nine students. There were a few parties, she admits, and occasionally people came home late and made a bit of noise. "But nothing too bad."

Sylvia's rent went up to £58 a week and, because her studies were much harder, she had to give up her holiday job.

The upshot was that by the end of her final year she had a £1,000 overdraft, to add to the £9,000 or so she owed in student loans.

So she doesn't accept the moans about students being lazy. That is an unfair stereotype, she says.

Being a student calls for a lot of self-discipline, she said. As a history student, she only had about four to six hours scheduled teaching time every week - but, in order to pass her exams, she had to study a lot on her own.

Like many of her friends, she is looking forward to having a job in which there are fixed, structured hours. "Having said that, I'm sure that within six months we will be wishing we could sleep in until 11am again."