Time was when third-level students rarely worked during term. Paid employment was for the holidays only. Nowadays, however, holding down a part-time job while at third level has become the norm for many students.

"We have noticed an increase in the number of people working significant hours during term time," says Barry Kehoe, director of student affairs at DCU. Some students, he says, are working in jobs for up to 20 hours every week. "It's very simplistic to say that you can work your way through college. That view is based on the American system where you can take things at your own pace. Even though we have modularised and semesterised systems here, students are still required to complete their degree programmes in four years."

Students who hold down part-time jobs during term put themselves under huge pressure, says Kehoe. They miss out on the social side of college life, academic progress can suffer and health can break down.

"It doesn't mean that they drop out of college or fail their exams," he says, "but it can mean the difference between gaining a 2.1 or a 2.2." For students who hope to do postgraduate work, a 2.1 is vital.

Dr David Abrahamson, TCD's senior tutor, believes that students should regard third level as a fulltime job and expect to work at least a 40-hour week. "In engineering, for example, students have 26 contact hours each week while in business, economics and social studies they have 20 contact hours. They're expected to do at least one hour private study for every contact hour and on top of that they have assignments. In these fields they don't have time to have part-time jobs."

In Kehoe's view, being a full-time student and holding down a part-time job can become a lifestyle issue. Students begin to lead unhealthy lives, existing on fast food and missing out on exercise. They are constantly tired, their concentration is affected and in health terms they become run down.

Unlike their second-level counterparts, third-level students are unlikely to work simply in order to enjoy excessive lifestyles. They usually need the money to exist, academics say.

Kehoe points to a recent study by the European Council for Student Affairs which shows that financial support for third-level students is lower in Ireland than in any other EU state. "The higher education grant is inadequate," he comments. "It's difficult to see how a genuinely poor student has any other option but to work."

However, it's not all bad news. Some students manage to have part-time jobs and do well in their exams. "Both my sons worked 18 hours per week right through college," says a south Dublin parent. "One graduated with a first in arts and the other with a 2.1 in engineering. Their employers were flexible about the hours they worked which meant that they could study and have part-time jobs."

Middle-class parents, too, are reluctant to admit that their student offspring are working at part-time jobs out of necessity. "Not at all," says one father. "My son worked to afford the extras - the coffee and beer money. He could have managed without the money he earned."

According to a Dublin off-licence manager: "My ideal part-timer is a TCD arts student. They are the most flexible in terms of time. Very few of them work out of dire necessity. They just want extra cash. My last student has recently graduated with first-class honours in science and in his last six months with me spent his money collecting fine wines."