We first had sex aged 14, say one in ten students

...and two in three confess that they’ve sent explicit ‘selfies’ to their partners

NEARLY one in ten students at British universities admit they first had sex at the age of 14 or younger.

A shocking survey of more than 6,000 students at 100 universities found that over half have had unprotected sex.

Nearly two-thirds – 61 per cent – use camera phones to send explicit pictures or videos of themselves to partners, known as ‘sexting’, and 58 per cent said they had received such pictures. Some 26 per cent had filmed sex with their partners.

The most worrying proof of the loss of an age of innocence was the nine per cent of the students who admitted in the online survey that they lost their virginity before they reached their 15th birthday, with two per cent saying they had sex before they turned 14.

By the time they reached 16 – the legal age of consent – that figure had risen to almost one in four. After starting university, more than half admitted to having one-night stands and six per cent said they had already had more than 20 partners.

The revelation that 54 per cent have had unprotected sex is despite decades of school and Government campaigns promoting contraception to cut down on teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

Just 34 per cent said they used condoms ‘sometimes’ and only a quarter used them always.

A quarter of respondents said they had cheated on a partner yet they still appeared to cling to traditional hopes for a family life, with twothirds expecting to marry between the ages of 25 and 30.

The survey was conducted by Student Beans, a website with 400,000 registered users that offers job advice, and was completed by 6,129 predominantly female students.

Just eight per cent said they were still virgins. In a league table of the most promiscuous students, the University of Brighton led the way – with students claiming an average of nearly 11 partners since they began their course. Bath Spa students were the least adventurous, with an average 2.57 partners each.

Those studying ‘leisure, hospitality, tourism and retail’ claimed to have the most partners, and chemistry and engineering the fewest.

Norman Wells of the Family Education Trust, which promotes tradi- tional moral values, said: ‘The survey underlines the failure of contraceptive-based sex education to prepare young people for lifelong marriages.

‘Contrary to the claims of those who assert that marriage is an outdated institution, the overwhelming majority of students expect to get married, with only six per cent saying they do not wish to marry.

‘Yet the casual attitudes towards sex suggested by high levels of onenight stands and multiple sexual partners indicate that students are ignorant of the character qualities they will need.’

Danielle Garrington-Miller, studying nursing at Nottingham University, said she has had 13 sexual partners so far but had been ‘too scared’ to send explicit pictures.

While Charlotte Ritson, 19, who is at Stirling University, admitted getting drunk and sleeping with people she barely knew. But she said: ‘I don’t think there is any harm in it, as long as you are safe. It gets it out of your system before you settle down.’