Meet the students who are paying their way through university with sex work
Glamour modelling, live shows and stripping all provide more than enough for these undergrads to get by on during their studies
MORE students than ever are turning to the sex trade to pay off student debts, according to a study by Swansea University academics.
Researchers Professor Tracey Sagar and Debbie Jones claim one in 20 students is already working in the industry – whether as a stripper, a glamour model or even a porn actor.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies says the average graduate leaves uni with debts in excess of £44,000 – which perhaps explains why another one in five of the students surveyed admitted considering sex work to avoid debt.
Here, DIANA APPLEYARD talks to four students who help pay for their studies by peeling off their clothes between lectures.
GLAMOUR MODEL
CLOVER THOMAS, 20, is a medical science student at Bournemouth University. She says:
“I took up glamour and topless modelling as a way of paying off my student living costs and tuition fees.
Other students are drunk and eating kebabs, I’ll be in a posh restaurant
“It has been brilliant.
“I’m no longer in debt and I have stashed away a lot of money as my nest egg for the future.
“The most I have earned was £6,000 for a week’s modelling work.
“I’ll pose in sexy lingerie and topless in risque photos, but I have to know the photographer.
“I won’t take on any sleazy backstreet work.
“While my fellow students are out getting drunk and eating kebabs, I’m either posing in a studio in sexy lingerie or eating out in a five-star restaurant.
“It feels great.
“I’ve paid off my tuition fees and I can easily cover my rent and living costs with the money I earn.
“My student friends are envious, but I put in the hard work while they are out partying.
“And I don’t care if anyone thinks I’m demeaning myself and my body, because I don’t feel I am.
“I choose to do this.
“My parents are supportive, because it means I don’t have to ask them for money, and I am on course to get a good 2:1 degree.
“I’m not sure at the moment whether I want to pursue a career in medicine or veterinary science, or whether to carry on with glamour modelling, as the money is so good.
“I have always been very independent and I love that I am totally self-supporting.
“I don’t see the work I do as seedy, the human body is beautiful and I am very much in control of what I am doing.
“There’s no way I would slave away doing bar jobs for a minimum wage when I can earn thousands doing this.
“My studies take up about three to four days a week and the rest of the time I am working on modelling assignments.
“I’ve even been on shoots in America, and I have an agent.
“I know some people will look down on what I do, but I’m the student who is going to leave with money in the bank – not debts.”
STRIPPER
KIERON MARSHALL, 23, studies architecture at Birmingham City University. He says:
“For the past two years I have been a member of the Dreamboys stripping troupe, and I love it.
make more in one night than I would all week working in a bar
“We perform at venues up and down the country and the pay is fantastic, I usually work just one night at the weekend and I’ll make up to £500.
“That’s a lot more than I could make working every night of the week in a bar, and it has far less impact on my studies.
“I’m doing really well, I’m on course to get a 2:1 degree.
“I got into stripping through a friend who worked in the industry.
“Without boasting, I am very fit and good-looking and keep my body in trim by working out six or seven days a week in the gym.
“I love dancing and picked up the routines very quickly.
“I’m a performer so it feels natural for me to be on stage.
“And it’s such a laugh, we don’t get completely naked but, put it this way, you have to tease the women and keep them wanting more.
“I say to my girlfriend that I do it to ‘get paid, not laid’.
There’s a bit of touching, but it is all harmless fun and I also love chatting to the women when we get them on stage.
“I’m now into bodybuilding and I’m already in the British final of a competition.
“I only have a small student loan and I’m more than covering my costs.
“I still plan to be an architect in the long-term, but this has been a great way of keeping out of debt.”
PORN STAR
ELLA HUGHES, 20, lives in Peterborough and has taken a sabbatical from her law degree at Southampton Solent University. She says:
“I’m doing webcam work and porn acting and this year I should make around £40,000.