The university courses that are most likely to cause sleep deprivation - does your course make the list?

Architecture, building and planning courses have the most sleep-deprived students, a new study reveals.

Sleep experts at Bed Kingdom have created an index revealing the university courses with the most sleep-deprived students.

They examined eleven areas including: 

• Time-tabled hours 
• Hours spent on assignments 
• Independent study hours  
• Work placement hours 
• Student satisfaction 
• Student anxiety 
• Paid employment hours 
• Percentage withdrawn due to mental health 
• Percentage withdrawn due to difficulty of study level 
• Percentage withdrawn due to balancing study and other commitments 
• Percentage withdrawn due to the amount of work 

These factors were then analysed to create a sleep deprivation score for each subject area with 100 being the maximum score. The subject areas were ranked with the highest score being the most sleep-deprived.

Architecture, building, and planning courses rank first, with a score of 55.23. In total, students work for 64.19 hours a week when considering paid employment and time spent on university work. These courses have the highest amount of independent study hours, with 19 hours per week. 

Ranking second are subjects allied to medicine, which includes pharmacology, therapies, and nutrition among others. This subject area scores 53.26 and students have the highest amount of work placement hours, spending 24 hours per week at their placements. 

Physical sciences rank third with a score of 52.91. These courses can include subjects like chemistry, geology, and earth sciences. Students on these courses work on average 63.51 hours per week and have 17 hours of timetabled lessons each week. 

Veterinary sciences are close behind, scoring 52.58. Students studying veterinary science have the highest number of timetabled lessons, with 21 hours per week on average. As a result, students work in paid employment for only nine hours per week on these courses.  

Mathematical sciences rank fifth with 52.26. For these students, work is split evenly between timetabled hours and independent study, averaging 15 hours per week. Students also have the highest number of assignments, spending an average of 10 hours completing them.  

In sixth are medicine and dentistry courses with a score of 52.21. These students work on average 66.26 hours per week, with 20 hours being used for timetabled lessons and 14 being used for work placements. 

Computing courses rank seventh with a score of 51.44. Computing students spend an average of 13 hours per week in paid employment, this is in addition to 11 hours of work placement per week. 

With a score of 48.82, engineering and technology courses rank eighth. A total of 62.14 hours per week is spent working, with only 7 hours spent on assignments and 16 hours in timetabled lessons. 

Creative arts and design courses rank ninth with 48.65. Students on these courses spend most of their time in independent study due to the less theoretical nature of the subject areas. An average of 16 hours per week is spent on independent study. 

In tenth is general sciences with a score of 48.28. These courses build on secondary level education with a chance to specialise in a scientific area.

The second lowest overall in hours worked, with only 55.97 per week, these students also have the least hours spent in work placements, with an average of 7 hours. Completing the list are general studies with 45.98, humanities and liberal arts with 45.43, biological and sport sciences with 45.08, agriculture, food, and related studies with 44.27, and finally education and teaching with 43.05. 

Ashley Hainsworth, CEO of Bed Kingdom commented on the findings: “Scientific studies have always been thought of as time-consuming and are very heavy on theory and practical assignments and examinations.

“They also have an emphasis on being exact and as close to perfect as possible due to the responsibilities professions such as doctors or veterinarians face daily. The study shows that students are concerned with the number of hours they spend working.

“Across timetabled hours, independent study, work placements and paid employment, students are working more than the 40 hours a regular job demands. There are 168 hours in a week and the average adult over eighteen should be getting no less than 49 hours of sleep each week.

“Extra-curricular activities, the workload expected, and work, so bills can be paid, are all eating into valuable rest time for students. With such little time left to sleep, it’s essential to consider comfortable, supportive bedding and creating the right atmosphere for a restful sleep.

“Reducing time on devices and reducing the amount of caffeine consumed can help with this.”