Go Higher: Wales & The South-west - Stay solvent looking after the `grockles'

When it comes to getting part-time and vacation work, the great thing the South-west and Wales has in its favour is tourism. Every summer "grockles", as tourists are known in the West, flock to the region to sample its delights, and with grockles come jobs, in hotels, cafes, bars and beach shops.

Bournemouth, for instance, benefits both from tourism and a thriving conference industry, and offers plenty of opportunities for casual work. The university's student job shop can find positions paying anything from pounds 50 to pounds 150 a week, depending on hours. In the tourist mecca of Bath you can easily find evening bar work or a casual hotel job. Over the long vacation there are even more opportunities, as the number of summer visitors to the city builds up. Expect to earn around pounds 4 an hour on average.

Compared to rural areas, job opportunities in the cities are more varied. In Bristol, many students find work in administration, which can earn up to pounds 5 an hour, or even up to pounds 7 for those with more sophisticated secretarial skills. Catering and bar jobs abound, but pay less - expect around pounds 3.50 to pounds 4 an hour. Southampton Institute of Higher Education's job shop offers vacancies including security work for gigs, marketing, admin, and IT work, both outside and inside the college. Typical rates of pay are around pounds 4 for admin work, pounds 5 to pounds 6 for IT.

In Exeter there is some work in clerical, admin and catering, while in Plymouth, casual work is quite seasonable and variable, tending to centre around hotel and bar work for around pounds 3.60 an hour.

However, you can find some factory jobs, and the student union and careers service work hard to attract more vacancies, such as working in a call centre for pounds 3.80-pounds 4 an hour.

In Cardiff, while there is plenty of temping work, you can also find jobs in factories. Cardiff University's student employment agency, Unistaff, which puts more than pounds 4,000 into student pockets every week, was one of Britain's first temping agencies for students. It also offers casual work on campus, often in areas such as clerical, catering, and bar work, but also more challenging work in administration or in the university's libraries to give students a chance to hone their employment skills and CVs, as well as pay off their overdrafts. Expect basic pay rates of around pounds 3 an hour.

Indeed, working for your university or college seems to be a growing trend. At the University of Glamorgan in Pontypridd, there is often part- time work for undergraduates in the student union, doing jobs such as bar work, reception work, or driving a minibus. At Bangor, lots of students work for the union in the bars, or in security or catering. There are also jobs in Bangor itself - expect to get around pounds 3.30 to pounds 3.60 an hour for waiting, bar work and retail jobs. The university's own employment bureau, the Opportunities Centre, which advertises part-time and vacation work both on campus and locally, can also find more skilled jobs in areas such as IT and translation. For students with the right qualifications, there are also opportunities around Bangor to work in outdoor pursuits such as canoeing, climbing, rafting and sailing.

Even smaller towns and institutions can usually come up with ways of keeping you gainfully employed. At Dartington College of Arts, for example, lots of students work on campus in the college's two pubs and conference centre; alternatively there's always jobs going at the local Safeway in Totnes. Aberystwyth University's job club can also assist students looking for work in the local area: jobs range from casual employment in catering, retail and hotels, to working within the university itself.