A BELFAST conference on the Northern Ireland student experience had a bleak picture painted for it recently. The conference, organised by the joint USI and NUS student centre, attracted members of the Northern Ireland assembly as well as university staff and student representatives. The conference heard that 60 per cent of Northern-based students now rely on part time employment in order to make ends meet - and work on average 17.7 hours a week to do so.

The recent introduction of fees for third-level education was also expected to have an effect in the North. UCAS figures showed that fewer mature students and fewer from unskilled and ethnic backgrounds had enrolled on courses compared to the previous year. In addition, a 1999 study found that half of all students at the University of Ulster did not regularly socialise with members of the "other" community. Another survey found that fewer than 2 per cent of students had been involved in any form of community relations activity.

The conference agreed to the establishing of a working group to report to the Northern Ireland Assembly. On of the conference's organisers, Alisa Keane, said: "I hope the working group will fill the current strategic void in relation to student service provision at a crucial time in Northern Ireland."