Nearly half of freshers are virgins when they come to uni, new stats have revealed

Nearly half of freshers are virgins when they come to uni, new stats have revealed.

A survey by the think tank HEPI has also revealed that female students are more likely to have sex than their male counterparts.

Students also want consent classes, with over half saying it should be compulsory to pass a consent test before coming to uni.

The survey of 1,000 students revealed the reality of students’ sex lives and attitudes to consent.

When students arrive at uni, they often don’t feel they’ve been prepared for what the landscape will be like at uni – with just over a quarter saying their prior education did enough. In fact, a third said porn had taught them more than school.

47 per cent of female students said they’d had sex during their time at uni, compared to 34 per cent for male students.

43 per cent said they’d never had sex with anyone when they came to uni, while a quarter had not “intimately kissed” anyone.

18 per cent of students were in a long distance relationship when they started uni.

Helen Marshall, the Chief Executive of Brook, a charity that specialises in working with young people to promote their sexual health, said: ‘This research provides an extremely valuable insight into students’ understanding of sex and relationships. While some of the findings are encouraging, much more still needs to be done to support students at university, many of whom will be away from home for the first time.

“Young people are sadly entering higher education feeling unprepared for the reality of sex and relationships, and there is clear demand from students themselves for greater education around consent.”

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