The Headlines so far ...

Survey Findings

The CUE project is now approaching the beginning of its third year. We have interviewed students across 5 universities. We have also successfully surveyed a random sample of undergraduate students (Christians, those of other faiths, and those of none) in 14 universities across England, amounting to over 4596 responses. Participating institutions are:

Durham University, University College London, University of Cambridge, University of Leeds, University of Newcastle, Sheffield University, Salford University, University of Kent, University of Derby, Kingston University, University of Staffordshire, University of Winchester, University of Chester and Canterbury Christ Church University.

The incoming results have, as expected, been fascinating:

Religious Identity: 

- - Of all of the students surveyed, 54% identify as being spiritual or religious.

- - An overall majority of students identify themselves as Christian 53%. The second highest group identify with no religion 36%.

Christian Practice:

- - Almost 72% of Christian students attended church prior to coming to university.

- - Just under 50% of Christian students do not attend church while at university.

- - Close to 70% of Christian students attend church outside of university term. Thus, churchgoing may be perceived as a family tradition and activity, and associated with home, not campus or student life.

- - During university term time, just over 70% of Christian students are not involved in weekly Christian activities (i.e. attending church and Christian groups).

- - Christian students who are involved in regular Christian activities attend local churches and university chapels, as well as the Christian Union, bible study, prayer groups, music ministry, youth group and Alpha.

- - Almost 75% of Christian students do not have a close friend committed to another religion.

Moral and Social Justice Issues:

- - Of the Christian students surveyed just under 65% are against or have some problem with the drinking culture that they encounter at university compared with 54% of non-Christians.

- - On sexual relations between adults of the same sex, close to 40% of Christian students think that this is wrong, compared with just over 45% who think it is not wrong at all.

- - Close to 50% of Christian students agree that terminally ill people should be legally permitted to take their own lives if they choose to.

- - Of Christian students, just over 65% have done some voluntary work or given to charity during the past 12 months compared with 48% of non-Christians.

These findings are all provisional of course. Once we have completed our data analysis we will be able to relate the findings above, amongst many others, to patterns in gender, ethnicity, degree subject, social class background, schooling and religious identity. We will then be able to answer questions like:

• Are Christian students more likely than non-believers to oppose abortion?
• Are religious students in general more likely to do volunteer work in the local community?
• Are science students more or less likely than students in the humanities to believe in God?
• What shapes attitudes towards equality of the sexes most: ethnicity, religion or social class?

Stay tuned for more findings and analysis.

What does it mean to be a Christian? (word cloud of student responses)