One in five UK uni students now teetotal

Financial pressures, a wider diversity of faiths and increased health awareness contributing to drop in drinking

wd-pint_-_carl_de_souzaafpgetty_images.jpg
(Image credit: Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty Images)

More than one in five UK university students now classify themselves as teetotal, as financial pressures and increased health awareness increasingly put young people off alcohol.

While 20% said they did not drink at all, more than two-thirds believed students only drank alcohol to fit in with their peers.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

At the other end of the spectrum around 2% of those surveyed said they drink most days, with 23% drinking two to three days a week.

With many students now paying £9,250 a year in fees, the NUS believes the financial pressures facing students, particularly in relation to doing well because they have accrued more debt, are causing the shift in students’ drinking habits.

On top of monetary restraints The Independent says “a range of factors – including an increased awareness of health and a wider diversity of faiths – have contributed” to a rise in teetotal students, as well as a rise in technology which has provided an alternative source of entertainment to students.

The shift in behaviour has driven demand for more university activities that don’t involve drinking as well as the rise of “inclusive spaces” for teetotal students on campus including more alcohol-free accommodation.

The University of St Andrews, which has offered alcohol-free accommodation since 2015, said it was unable to place all students who had requested rooms this year due to the number of applications.

But while students’ relationship to alcohol may be slowly changing, nearly four in five of those surveyed by the NUS (79%) still believe that getting drunk is part of university culture, and only one in 10 is aware of responsible drinking activities or campaigns on campus.

Explore More