LONDON:
A new survey of the sex lives of students at Cambridge University has revealed
that promiscuity adversely
effects a
person's ability to score good grades.
More than 1,000 undergraduates
were questioned during the survey, and it was found that those at poorly
performing colleges had the most number of sexual
partners.
Peterhouse came near
the bottom of the 2007 Tompkins Table, which ranks Cambridge colleges in order
of their students' academic performance, but third in the promiscuity
list.
The survey revealed that
its students had an average of five sexual partners as compared to three at
Christ's College, which came second in last year's academic
table.
It was also found that
Christ's had the highest number of virgins, with more than a quarter of
respondents saying that they had never had
sex.
The surveyors say that
students studying certain subjects were more promiscuous than others. Writing
about their online poll, published in the student magazine Varsity, they said
that pupils studying medicine had the most number of sexual partners, while
students of theology had the fewest.
Students of social political
science came second, followed by pupils studying history and modern and medieval
languages. The survey also revealed that many students were putting their health
at stake by not getting tests for sexually transmitted diseases performed on
them.
Forty per cent of the
students surveyed admitted having a one-night stand, while over 60% said that
they had never been tested for HIV, chlamydia or other sexually transmitted
diseases.
"The more sociable a
person is the less time they have for their studies. People who have a lot of
sexual partners not only spend time initiating relationships with people but
they also have to contend with a lot of stress when those relationships break
up. This can seriously affect a person's ability to concentrate," told Cary
Cooper, a professor of psychology and health at Lancaster University, as
saying.
Ed Cumming, the
associate editor of Varsity magazine, said: "Some results confirm long-held
stereotypes. Those involved in postgraduate study are less likely to have had
sex than their undergraduate counterparts. It suggests that as long as you
believe in sex before marriage, you will have lost your virginity by the time
you graduate."
The poll comes
only months after it was claimed Cambridge students were working as prostitutes,
strippers and escorts to earn extra money. According to reports, some female
students work as call girls and lapdancers while others are said to be signed up
to a local escort agency.