University of Sussex Students' Newspaper

Sussex ranked 42nd in annual alcohol survey

The Badger

ByThe Badger

Nov 28, 2011

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The University of Sussex is in 42nd place on the Student Drinking Survey 2011.

The release of the Student Drinking survey 2011, compiled by Student Beans.com places 60 universities nationwide.
Leeds Metropolitan University came top of the league table, with the average student getting through an impressive 26.7 units of alcohol per week.

The University of Liverpool and the Wales Institute Cardiff complete the top three, with 26.6 units and 26.1 units respectively.

Meanwhile a University of Sussex student on average only drinks 16.9 units of alcohol each week. Three of the top five alcohol-fuelled universities, the University of Glamorgan, University of Wales Institute, Cardiff and Leeds Metropolitan University, are also the most sexually active.

Brighton University ranked highly in the University Sex league table, coming out third, whilst the University of Sussex was placed 18th.

47 percent of non-drinking students responded that they wish alcohol wasn’t such a large part of university life.  For the teetotal, 20 percent of students claim they would be unable to survive a term without it.

 The majority of students chose vodka as their favoured alcoholic drink, closely followed by cider as the second most popular.

The survey also revealed some statistics on drunken behaviour. 59 percent of students have experienced memory loss after a night out, 33 percent have been injured, 48 percent reported that they have walked home alone, and 25 percent have had a one-night stand.

Stephen Fry is the celebrity students would most like to go for a drink with, followed by Russell Brand and thirdly, Charlie Sheen.

The results of the survey appear to suggest that there may be a link between alcohol and sex, having a hazy memory and injuring yourself.

The results might also suggest that students are complying with Department of Health directives. The Department of Health recommends men consume between three and four unit of alcohol per day, whilst women can consumer between two and three.

Over a whole week, this totals 28 and 21 units respectively, allowing an average of 24.5 units per student per week, as per the recommended allowance. Only four universities exceed this allowance (the fourth being Bath Spa University).

University years are often perceived, rightly or wrongly, as the most alcohol-fuelled years of life, but results from the Student Beans survey suggests perhaps instead that students are being fairly sensible.

The average University of Sussex student drinks an average of 16.9 units per week, roughly equating to a 35 millilitre bottle of vodka.

However, Department of Health regulations suggest that this number of alcohol units should be spread across a whole week, rather than binge drinking a weekly allowance in one night. Often, students seem to consume vast amounts of alcohol on single nights out.

Freshers’ week and similar events are often weeks of alcohol excess, and according to the Department of Health, can be damaging to us in the long-term.

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