35 Side Hustle Ideas for Students: Everything You Need to Know

Looking for side hustle ideas for students? This post had everything your need!

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In this post: 35 Side hustle ideas for students

1. What can students do to make money as a side hustle?
2. Our list of side hustle ideas for students
3. What jobs can I do as a side hustle?

What can students do to make money as a side hustle?

As a student, it can be hard to find the time to balance your studies with a job – but it still wouldn’t hurt to have some more money in the bank!

That’s where the beauty of a side hustle comes in – you can work them around your busy schedule and also earn some more money. 

This article goes over 35 of the top side hustle ideas for students in the UK.

Our list of side hustle ideas for students

What jobs can I do as a side hustle?

1. Blogging 

If you have writing skills then you can make great money from blogging in your free time.  Generally, making money from blogging is achieved through advertising, where you are paid when a user clicks on and buys from an advert that they see on your blog. 

This is certainly not a way to earn money quickly, but over time it can be a great source of passive income and a very lucrative side hustle in general.

They key to blogging is producing great content that helps other people in some way.

If lost and not sure where to start, the Create and Go Launch Your Blog Biz Course as part of the Blog Biz Bundle is genuinely one of the best blogging courses available for someone looking to make a start and earn their first $1000/ £1000 online!

We did this course ourselves and loved it 🙂

See the Launch Your Blog Biz Course Here!

2. Start a website

Once again, a website is a highly effective way in which you can make some passive income as a student. 

Once you set up your site you simply need to get it some exposure over social media to generate some clicks, and then you can start thinking of ways to monetise it. 

• 5 simples steps to start a blog/ website!
• 30 Side Hustle Ideas for Mums: Everything You Need to Know

3. Tutoring

There are a few options for tutoring as a student to make some money as a side hustle.  If you are looking to become a tutor, it is recommended that you tutor those at a lower level of education than you are yourself. 

For instance, if you are in your final year of university, you could tutor those in primary school, secondary school, or even those in their first years of your course!

There are loads of great platforms online, such as MyTutor, which can get you set up with some customers for your tutoring side hustle, or you can put up some local advertisement on your student campus to get some interest in your services!

For a full guide on how to build success as a tutor, see our guide here…

4. Babysitting 

Many students find babysitting a great way to make some money while they are studying, because it offers great money in comparison to other side hustles. 

This makes it the perfect way to make some cash on the side of your other commitments. 

The other great thing about babysitting is that it’s a very flexible job, making it very easy to fit it around your studies.  It is also something that can be put on your CV for the future, opening up the opportunity of working with children further down the line.

5. Petsitting 

If you’re an animal lover or are missing your pet at home, then petsitting could be the perfect side hustle to fit in with your studies. 

Many pet owners would prefer to keep their pet at home if they aren’t going to be there, which is why they might hire a petsitter rather than opting for a kennel or similar. 

Some people will need pet care for several days, if they are going away, and others might just need you to be there for a few hours while they are at work.

When going about petsitting as a side hustle, you can choose both the rate and the hours that work best for you, all for doing something that you find enjoyable! 

6. Tour guide

If you love the town or city where you study, and feel like you know it well enough to show people around, then you could potentially make good money as a local tour guide for tourists! 

A great way to make this your side hustle is to offer free walking tours, and have it run on a pay-what-you-like or tips basis. 

This may seem risky as you are not charging money for your services per se, but many students do this and find that tourists are very generous with the tips that they give.

The best way to get started with this is to check out which agencies in your city offer free walking tours, and apply to be a guide through them!

7. Become an Uber driver

If you have a driving licence and a car, you could make a really decent supplementary income from becoming an Uber driver. 

The main benefit that students find with Uber driving is the flexibility of the hours – you can really choose to work any time you like!

8. Delivery driving

Food delivery drivers are always in demand, especially since the rise in popularity of food-ordering platforms.  The great thing is that you don’t even need to own a car to do it – you can use a scooter or bike instead! 

Simply sign up with an app of your choice (Deliveroo, JustEat, Uber Eats), and choose the hours that you would like to work.  Like Uber, delivery driving is super flexible and offers great pay as a side hustle.

9. Begin an Etsy shop

If you have creative talent, you have lots of different options for your side hustle just by opening up your own Etsy store!

Many students make some money on the side through making various things, such as jewellery, clothing and other crafts, and then selling them. 

The best part is that, as well as making you some money, this also gives you a portfolio of creative designs, should you ever need them!

• 40 Amazing Etsy Printables to Sell (Everything You Need to Know)

10. Take on some freelancing

Freelancing in any area is a great way to pick up some extra work for yourself alongside studying.  You get to set your own hours, and often your own rates as well. 

When thinking of picking up freelancing, it is a good idea to play to your strengths and choose something that you can do fairly easily, for the best shot at making the most money for the time you spend doing it.

11. Write cover letters and CVs for other students 

The majority of university students will need a CV or cover letter at some stage, so offering a service to write them for others can make a great side hustle with plenty of available customers!

12. Dog walking

A typical part of being a student for most people is, unfortunately, not being able to keep any pets.  If you love dogs, then dog walking as a student could be the perfect side-hustle for you! 

Many people who work full time or cannot walk their dog themselves require a dog walker several times a week, so you should never have any problems finding clients around your local area.

There are plenty of great sites that you can put your details into to find people who need your services, such as Care Pets.

13. Offer cleaning services

People and businesses are always looking for someone to clean their homes and offices, and this can be a great flexible side hustle for students and means that you can set your own rate and decide what you want to earn! 

14. Teach something you’re good at

If you have a skill, such as a musical instrument, language or artistic talent, why not put it to good use and make some money by teaching it to others? 

This can be one of the more well-paid options, especially if your skill is something that is in demand with fellow students.

15. Lifeguarding 

Are you a strong swimmer? Lifeguarding could be a great option for you to make some extra money as a student. 

Often the most needed slots are in the evenings and weekends, which fits great around a university schedule.

16. Painting and decorating

If you enjoy painting and think that it’s something you’d be good at, then it is certainly something you could earn good money doing if you offer to paint people’s homes for them. 

All you need to do is advertise your services somewhere your potential customers will see them, such as around your local area or on relevant Facebook groups.

17. Become a virtual assistant

For many students, the ideal side hustles are the ones that can be done virtually.  This offers increased flexibility and means that they can be easily fitted around university contact hours and study time. 

If this sounds like the kind of thing that suits you more, then you might love being a virtual assistant as a side hustle.  

Being a virtual assistant means working for a business, sending emails and managing schedules. 

This can be done on a part-time basis to work around studying, and also looks great on your CV!

18. Product testing 

Product testing refers to being sent products by a company, testing them out and reviewing them for money. 

You can do this through dedicated market research companies online, whose job it is to feed back the information from users to the company, letting them know if consumers like their products or not.

You will be allowed to keep the products that are sent to you (which can then be sold on), or sometimes you will even receive cash for reviewing the products.

19. App and website testing 

Starting user testing can be a great way to make a bit of extra money on the side.  All you have to do is sign up to one of the platforms, such as UserTesting.com, and simply get paid for reviewing various websites.

20. Sell stock photos 

If you feel like you take good photos that others might want to use, why not try getting them on some stock photo websites to make some money for them? 

Websites such as Adobe Stock and shutterstock are a great way to get your images out there and make some extra cash out of them.

21. Sell belongings 

We all own things that we don’t use or wear, but just haven’t quite gotten round to throwing them out yet.  Rather than throwing things away that you don’t use, why not try listing some of your belongings online to make some money from them? 

For clothes, apps like Depop make it very easy to list items and get them sold.  Similarly, platforms such as eBay are great for listing other items that you would like to sell. Check out our post on selling items on eBay for a profit.

22. Start your own podcast

Do you feel like you have a lot to say?  You may not know this, but you could start your very own podcast and even make money doing it! 

You may not begin making money immediately, but if you stick with it then you might even find that it ends up paying quite well! 

If you work on creating content that people want to listen to, you can even look into getting sponsorships later down the line!

23. Get paid to transcribe

Offering your transcription services is another great virtual side hustle that will fit seamlessly with your university schedule. 

These services entail transcribing audio or video files into written form for those who need it.  All you have to do is listen to someone speaking and take it down with accuracy.

24. Translation services

If you know two languages, then offering translation services can make you a decent sum of money as a student. 

Either offer your services to other students who need it, or go freelance and offer them somewhere like Fiverr.

25. Help people move

Many people need help when they are moving house – it often requires lifting heavy items and furniture, often up or down stairs, and some people are not able to do this by themselves. 

So, if you have the strength, then you should consider helping people for an hourly or fixed rate – it can be a really effective way to make some money on the weekends and fit it around your schedule.

26. Sell your university notes

Do you generally do well in your studies at university?  Well, what you may not realise is that this in itself can be a side hustle. 

Many students make extra money during university simply by selling their study notes for other students to use, requiring no extra work on their part! 

Platforms such as Stuvia and Notesale are a great way to sell notes to other students and make some extra money.

27. Join TaskRabbit

If you’re willing to put your hand to just about anything to make some extra cash, then TaskRabbit could be the perfect solution for you. 

TaskRabbit is a platform enabling people to request that certain ‘tasks’ be done for them – this can be anything from cleaning their house to picking up their laundry – and ‘taskers’ can sign up for them to make money. 

This is a super flexible side hustle idea because you can sign up for tasks whenever you have spare time.

28. Flip books

Flipping books involves buying books second-hand to try and find some that might be worth something, before selling them on for a higher price. 

This is something you can do entirely in your own time and can turn out to make a great supplementary income.

29.  Get gigs (music, DJ)

If you have some decks or can play a musical instrument, you could certainly get paid for playing events. 

For DJing, you can play parties for a set fee and spread the word through students you know. 

If it’s live music you’d be playing, try sourcing gigs at birthday parties or other social events locally.

30. Become a brand ambassador 

As far as side-hustles that will get you great experience go, becoming a student brand ambassador has got to be one of the absolute best options. 

Brands are always looking for ambassadors to represent things that they are doing, and it can enhance your skills in social media and marketing too.

31. Copywriting 

This would be the perfect idea for any English students, but really if you have any kind of writing skills then this would be a great side hustle for you. Copywriting refers to writing content for businesses or entrepreneurs, usually for their websites. 

You will often get a full brief of the kind of content that is needed, meaning that work can be done quickly and when you have the time!

Platforms such as Fiverr are perfect for starting up side-hustles like this.

32. ‘Get paid to’ websites

Some websites offer people money to do various things for them online. 

This can be anything from reviewing to surveys to playing games, and is a great way to make some extra money if you have free time on your hands.

33. Publish an ebook

Many students do not realise that anyone can publish an ebook online, on the Kindle store for example, and make money from it. 

The easiest way to earn here is to publish a work of non-fiction and to make sure that the content is going to be valuable to the reader. 

Once you’ve set up your ebook on the marketplace, you can earn passive income from it for a long time afterwards!

• How To Self Publish A Book (Everything You Need To Know)

34. Use cashback apps

As a student, you’ll be looking to save money as well as earning it. 

Looking into cashback sites is a great way to be reimbursed for spending on something, which can really add up in the long run!  Apps like Quidco and Top Cashback are both great options for this.

35. Review music

Sites like Slicethepie make it super easy to earn some extra money simply by sharing your opinions on music.  It’s free to sign up, and you earn every time you submit a review!

If you have any questions or ideas about side hustles for students, please leave a comment in the section below. We would love to hear from you!