The UK unis where you’re most likely to be struck down by freshers’ flu in 2024

September and October are highly dangerous times for students at UK unis. If you do so much as sit too close to a stranger in the library, or snog someone in a club, then you’re likely to be struck down by a terrifying plague of freshers’ flu.

It turns out that the chances of getting freshers’ flu actually very significantly between different UK unis.

The personal inquiry website claims.co.uk figured this out by counting how many times people had Googled for cold and flu symptoms in all the cities with big UK unis during September and October in the years 2021-2023, then calculating how many internet searches that was per 100,000 people. They were then able to rank cities with unis by how diseased they are likely to be in 2024.

Oxford is officially the biggest freshers’ flu hotspot in the UK. Cambridge is only just behind it, in third place. Oxbridge students can’t be as clever as they think they are, if they’re catching the common cold left, right and centre.

Another Russell Group uni, the University of Exeter, came in second place. Exetaaah students should ask mummy and daddy to send them some extra M&S tissues just in case.

So, here are the UK unis where you are most likely to be plagued with freshers’ flu in 2024:

10. Worcester

University of Worcester

6,688 searches

9. Birmingham

Aston University, Birmingham City University, Newman University, University of Birmingham

6,783 searches

8. Colchester

University of Essex

6,939 searches

7. Glasgow

Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow School of Art, Royal Conservatoire Scotland, University of Glasgow, University of Strathclyde

7,320 searches

6. York

University of York, York St John University

7,502 searches

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5. Leeds

Leeds Arts University, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds Trinity University, University of Leeds

7,893 searches

4. Reading

University of Reading

7,935 searches

3. Cambridge

Anglia Ruskin University, University of Cambridge

8,181 searches

2. Exeter

University of Exeter

8,342 searches

1. Oxford

Oxford Brookes University, University of Oxford

9,580 searches

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