PARENTS of university students give their children over £3,400 a year to support their studies, figures released today show.

The Aviva study found that parents pay in total £10,000 on average over their student child’s three-year degree.

The survey of 2,000 parents found that one in 10 gave children at university least £9,000 a year, while a quarter (23 per cent) give studying children at least £5,000 per year to help cover all aspects of university life, including accommodation, living costs, and fees.

Eight out of 10 parents said they had given their children some financial support while studying, but only one in seven parents said they had saved a fund which would cover all university-related costs for their children.

The insurer’s summer 2016 Family Finances report found that those who recently joined higher education could find themselves with £44,000 of student debt when graduating.

Even with support from parents, a significant number of students still work to support themselves while studying. Forty-three per cent of parents said their children had a job during term time, while 42 per cent said their children worked during university holidays.

And, 37 per cent of parents whose children had paid employment while at university felt that work commitments had a negative impact on their children’s studies.