Students ‘have 10 minute attention span’

University students have an average attention span of just 10 minutes, a survey has found.

Many are ill-equipped to deal with either academic life or the world of work, the poll of 1,000 students discovered.

A third blamed the fact that they could only concentrate for 10 minutes in lectures on being overworked and a consequent lack of sleep.

One in six (17 per cent) said they had to prioritise the part-time work they undertook to help fund their studies, over their lectures.

And one in five (21 per cent) said their paid work was making it difficult to complete their academic assignments on time, the survey carried out last month for Olympus, the technology company, found.

Perhaps as startling was the finding that one in 10 feared their degree would be a waste of money.

Nearly half said they would end university with large debts and almost a quarter said they did not think their university education would help them stand out as a potential employee.

Wes Streeting, president of the National Union of Students, told BBC News: “Given that students are graduating with record levels of debt, and job prospects are at an all-time low, it is no surprise that so many are having to take on part-time work which is adversely affecting their studies.”