Students 'owe more than £10,000'

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Eight out of 10 students have a student loan, owing an average of £4,550 on it, while 73% have an overdraft facility, which around 50% of undergraduates use, according to high street bank Halifax.

Among those using their overdraft a third are overdrawn by more than £1,250, with the average undergraduate owing £952, while 43% of students also have a credit card on which they have borrowed an average of £778.

More than one in four students said they were relying on debt to help fund their degree. 52% were also working while they were at university, 50% got help from their parents, 44% received money from the Government and 29% used their savings.

Overall, 82% of undergraduates expect to leave university with debt.

Sue Harper, head of student banking at Halifax, said: "These results show just how much debt students are building up while studying. These are significant sums for anyone, let alone someone who is not yet working full-time."

Students spend an average of £164.90 a week, with accommodation their single biggest expenditure at an average of £60.70, followed by food at £27.

But undergraduates also spend a total of £41.20 on cigarettes, alcohol, pubs, cinemas and takeaways each week - four times the amount they spend on course materials, books and stationery.

Male students spend more on socialising than female ones at an average of £46.80 a week, compared with women's £36.80.

Undergraduates expect to earn an average of £18,790 a year in their first job, although 15% think their first salary will be less than £15,000 a year. But recent research from NatWest suggested graduate earnings during the first year are actually more likely to be around £14,515.