Sex & Substances

Sex Survey 2013 results

A small snapshot of the private lives of Imperial College London students

Felix

23 May 2013 — 15 min read

The entire Sex Survey can be seen in the Issue Archive. It is on pages 8-13 of Issue 1548.

This year we had 1113 replies to the Sex Survey.

Sexuality

Heterosexual – 82.0%
Unsurprisingly most respondents to the survey were straight. 81% of women and 84% of men identified themselves as straight.

Gay/Lesbian – 5.2%
7% of men were gay, and 2% of women were lesbians. The 2011 UK Census found 2.4% of 16-24 year olds are lesbian, gay or bisexual.

Bisexual – 9.8
More people said they were bisexual then did gay or lesbian. Male/female splitt was pronounced: 14% of women, but only 7% of men.

Asexual: 0.6%

Other: 1.1%

Don’t wish to say: 1.4%

Sexual satisfaction

Is Imperial really as limp as it seems?

So, with our infamous ratio often being quoted as a source of a lot of discontent, are we really as dissatisfied as other student surveys are leading us to believe?

“I want a fucking boyfriend. Pun fully intended.”

When asking students about how happy they are with their sex life, the majority of students said they were satisfied with their sex life, with 61% either happy or very happy in their bedroom endeavours. Only 15% of students said they were dissatisfied with their lacklustre sex lives.

“Meeting people while [being] a PhD student is hard.”

Splitting by gender though, 67% of all females out there are either happy or very happy. This is not the case for the boys, with only 55% of men feeling the same. One in four males simply described their attitude to their sex life as “meh.”

So has Imperial had any influence on these findings? When asked, around 46% of students overall feel that being at Imperial negatively affects your sex life. However, when split by gender, it was found that, actually, to the contrary, 20% of women thought it enhanced their sex lives, compared to only 9% of men thinking the same. Not only that, a further 56% of males agreed that going to Imperial has left them rather high and forever dry by stating Imperial has done them no sexual favours.

“Too much coursework, no time for sex or relationships!”

Just to cover all of the bases, we then asked if their sex life at Imperial has had any impact on their overall student satisfaction. It was also found that 59% of students thought that there wasn’t really any link between the two. Splitting by gender again, it does seem that the boys are again more disgruntled than the girls, with 64% of females not considering their sex lives a hindrance to their blossoming student experience, whilst only 56% of the boys seem to think the same. Maybe what the library can do for some it just can’t do for others.

With women on average having more sex per week then men, it does seem that men are indeed feeling a bit begrudged towards the ratio. However, generally, the majority of students shouldn’t seem to have a hard time swallowing the fact that we are, generally, quite a sexually satisfied bunch.

For departments, 26% of Maths students declare themselves “Unhappy with their sex life.” They should head over to EEE where it drops to just 5%. Is EEE the hive of Imperial’s sex life? 43% of them have sex “Monthly or Less” so perhaps it is.

“Hey you included asexual this year. I feel oddly validated.“

What about those hard core fuckers out there who ticked the ‘daily’ box when asked how often they had? How happy are they? 76% of them declare themselves Very Happy. No surprises.

“I’m consistently shocked and disgusted with how many people I know who are sexually active, but have never been to a GUM clinic”

So next time someone publicly berates the Imperial social scene and the lack of stimulation it may provide, it is probable that they are actually bumping uglys behind closed doors (or even in that toilet upstairs in the Union)… unless they are male.

Virginity

Just how fresh are the freshers?

A graph showing how religious reasons affected the sex lives of different Departments

Despite the obvious decline in the number of virgins over the years as more of the naïve first years get around to popping their cherry, just how many Freshers are virgins when the arrive? The split between the age that females and males are losing their virginity at is evident. With 27% of females losing their virginity at the age of the 18 compared to only 18% of males, it seems that they will be more experienced than their male counterparts.

There is also a significant drop between the ages of 18 and 19 as ages for virginity loss – with only 12% of girls holding out for that extra year and 11% of boys doing the same, this may be influenced by the transition to university, and also halls providing that amorous atmosphere we all know and love.

This year alone saw a flurry of activity within the fresher community: 28% of the females who started this year lost their virginity aged 18, with only 18% of those who are male doing the same. Even after allowing for corrections for those who may have started university at a later age and those that maybe lost their virginity before university, it still shows a significant discrepancy between the two genders – the men are seemingly more likely to be virgins than the women throughout this first year.

“Both my boyfriend and I were surprised when we told each other that we were virgins. It was awesome”

It seems that some virgins at Imperial traverse their maiden voyage within the confines of halls, and even, possibly, at the hands of the trusty hall senior. Those who lost their virginity at the ages of 18 and 19 also saw 7% and 5% of them respectively having sex with their hall senior too, although such a correlation drawn can be seen as rather tenuous. It does remain a possibility, however, that 1 in 20 of students were deflowered by that impressively experienced second year student on your corridor. So if it is not the tender hands and words of a hall senior, what else influences students in losing their V plates? When asked whether beliefs have an influence on their sex life, 37% of people who stated that they are virgins also said religion has influenced their choices sexually. This suggests that perhaps many are choosing to remain virgins as opposed to wanting to lose their virginity but not being able to.

“Imperial definitely isn’t full of sexless geeks - I think it’s one of the healthier universities of London from what I’ve heard - both from Imperial and outside-Imperial friends.”

When it came to age, most lost it at 18. However, a larger number than you may think lost their virginity very young. 117 people said that they have lost their virginity at the age of 15 and below.

The always popular virginity by department saw Medicine at the top of the scale. Combining the virginity of a department against the percentage that are virgins (see graph above) you have the people who are going to hell on the right of the line and those who are doing it for the hell of it on the left.

When the world of the internet came into play, it turns out that virgin are looking at naughty things less than their non-virgin friends. 33% of virgins said that they looked at porn less than once a year or never. 22% of virgins would consider online dating, which was actually low compared to non-virgins.

Online

Are students logging on or jacking off?

With Imperial students having more compassionate relationships with their laptops than they do with their lab partners, only a surprisingly low 4% (39 people) admitted to using online dating websites. However, it does seem that some of you out there could be convinced, with 29% admitting to considering it in the future if it does appear rather bleak. It may be no time before people are uploading and refreshing over weeping and wanking.

Relationships

How many scientists are sampling each other?

Just how shy are we all around those we have a soft spot for? With 56% of girls being in a relationship at the moment, compared to 49% of the males out there, woman are slightly taking the lead when it comes to romance. But how many people out there are getting down and dirty within the very social confines of Imperial? 51% of those in a relationship are dating someone else with Central library access, meaning that the other half are going elsewhere to get their teenage kicks right through the night.

So with one half getting their nerdgasm on in between lectures and labs, are those dating fellow Imperial students faring any better? 93% of those consider themselves happy or even very happy, whereas a smaller 88% of those indulging off campus coitus can say the same. Making love in lab coats may therefore have its perks.

So if you want in on this Imperial infatuation, where should you start your search? 33% of those dating someone at Imperial found their squeeze in halls, with about 20% finding their significant other at a club or society or dating someone from their course. At either Union or non-Union parties trailed behind. Perhaps missing that night out to look over your notes and colour co-ordinate it by subject wasn’t such a terrible shout after all then.

“I thought this survey would encapsulate broader attitudes towards sex, and not assume one is taking part in sexual activity. There are many others in my position who are saving sex for a long-lasting and loving relationship. A chance to share intimacy and something very special with one person. Within marriage... Cultural/religious reasons don’t “affect” my sex life. I look forward to great sex from my wedding night and beyond. No baggage!!”

Are hall seniors therefore rising to the challenge, going above and beyond their role? 91 people have experienced their hall senior trying it on, whereas 52 people succumbed to their authoritative advances and been given more than the average pastoral care. This gives hall seniors a hit rate of around 1 in 2: something for Wardens to worry about, and something for socially awkward first years to aspire towards.

What about Departments? Well, the most incestuous were the ESE (Earth Sciences and Engineering) people. 22% of them are in relationships with each other. That’s a staggering 44% of the department. They stood head and shoulders above the others. Next up were humanities as the others just aren’t alternative enough for them. Materials were very low though, so there’s at least one building on campus that’s bound to be awkward. Computing, well, maybe you should close your monitors and look at the people in your lecture theatre: below 5% are in a relationship with each other.

How happy students in relationships with other Imperial students are compared to those who have partners from elsewhere

At the same time as them all being lovey dovey with each other 20% of ESE are not happy. Awkward. So it seems at Imperial a lot of people aren’t doing too badly when it comes to finding that special someone. However, don’t feel that this may hinder your chances as a singleton, as with one comment stating, “over half the guys I’ve slept with have had girlfriends,” faithfulness may not be at the top of some of the men’s agendas. This is definitely something that needs to be addressed in the next Sex Survey…

Oral and anal

A pie chart showing the percentage of Imperial students that have had anal sex

Who’s getting on their knees? Well, probably most of you. 82% were happy to give oral, and 85% were happy to receive oral. When you go down to the gender split, 5% more men were happy to give head. The most stunning difference was in the answers for happy to receive oral. 77% of women and an amazing 91% of men were happy to get head. It seems the flavoured condom need a massive ad campaign, as nobody isusing them. Perhaps it’s the flavours? 87% of people who give/receive oral sex are using protection.

How about anal sex? Well, 32% said that they had had anal sex. 24% of people said that they had at one point asked for anal sex. The gender split for this was pronounced. 11% of women and 32% of men said that they had asked. In total, 30% said that they had been asked for anal sex. Perhaps you’re all asking each other? Who knows. Anyway, breaking that down by gender and you find that the result corresponds to the people asking pretty well. 24% of men and 38% of women said they had been approached about anal sex.

Of the people that had had analsex, 63% of them had asked. Don’t ask don’t get applies then it seems. Although 69% had also been asked. 84% who hadn’t had anal sex had not been asked for it.

Masturbation

Who's conducting experiments on themselves?

Which Department are the biggest wankers?

Wanking, frigging, adjusting the antenna, shining the diamond, scratching the patch, cleaning the rifle, and many other euphemisms describe this section. That’s right Imperial, how often do you masturbate?

As society leads us to believe, men are complete wankers with 24% of male survey respondents admitting to a daily rub and a whopping 42% celebrating themselves a few times a week. In fact a total of 83% of male survey takers shake it out at least once a week. Maybe think before shaking hands with the next guy you meet!

“Did this [Felix Sex Survey] in the library. Turn to see a stranger standing behind me peeking. He gives me a wink and leaves. FML”

What is interesting to notice is how few men live hands free, with only 2% of male respondents having some quality alone time only a few times a year and almost managing to masturbate less than that (or possibly not at all).

But what of the girls, you ask? Well it seems that the ladies lead more fulfilling lives with less boredom, leading to only 3% of females saying they masturbate daily and 17.5% taking themselves to task a few times a week. Combining the results we see that 39.7% of women at Imperial masturbate at least once a week, in other words less than half of the male equivalent.

"'Daily’ is the highest available frequency for porn/masturbation?”

In contrast to their male counterparts 25% of female survey respondents take part in self-gratification less than a few times a year or not at all. A lack of availability to comment on this section means that we can only speculate whether this is because of differences in sexuality, lifestyles or just less boredom!

People who choose not to identify as male or female formed a much smaller number of respondents, so the data is not as reliable. However of this group 33% did not wish to divulge their masturbation habits, while 20% claimed a daily self-devotion.

By department, well, it seems Civil Engineering are the biggest wankers. They nearly reached 30% masturbating daily. When you next go to shake hands with the person designing a building, perhaps think twice about it. ESE masturbated the least, possibly because they are all in relationships with each other (see analysis of relationships).

“We had sex in the changing rooms in REISS on Oxford Street.”

When it came to watching porn, it was a clear split. 68% of men watch porn weekly, whereas only 11% of women did. By department, Materials are watching the most porn, but aren’t masturbating the most... Interesting.

One interesting thing came up. If you masturbate a lot of are also likely to be unhappy with your sex life. If you masturbate a few times a week or less you are 15% more likely to be unhappy with your sex life than people masturbating weekly or more. So perhaps masturbating regularly is an indicator that you are unhappy with your sex life.

Sex toys / Dressup

Electronic stimulation for the Imperial nation?

This year we wanted to find out all about your sex toys. How many of you have a cheeky little device hidden in the bottom of a drawer? Maybe you have it in pride of place on your mantelpiece. Probably not. Regardless of where you keep it, it was interesting to note their use.

We found that 25% of people used sex toys of some kind. 19% of men and 34% of women used them (not too shocking there). Interestingly 90% of virgins didn’t use sex toys. If you’re in a relationship you’re twice as likely to be using a rampant rabbit or other such device. It seemed like straight people were much less likely to use sex toys than their gay, lesbian, and bisexual counterparts.

“Great Hall, on the stage, try it someday.”

It seems that those of you that indulge in sex toys are adventurous enough to use them with your partners as well, with the “On your partner” and “On both” options totalling around 2/3 of responses. Whether sex toys make you happier or not is debatable. We’re at Imperial, so we’ll give you the figures. 32% of people who are happy or very happy with their sex lives use sex toys, whereas 14% of the unhappy or very unhappy were using sex toys. 44% of women who were very happy used sex toys. So, if you want to make your girl give her sex life an A* rating, buy a sex toy maybe?

“Had sex in St. James’ park during the summer, after dark, while beach volley ball was going on in Horse Guards Parade.”

The majority of you that have sex toys own vibrators, which perhaps means that Imperial students are so busy that when they want to spice up things in the bedroom (alone or with a partner) they want it done for them. 205 people said they had a vibrator, compared to the 105 who had a dildo. Finally, we would like to advise one respondent that “putting a hamster up [your] bum” does not count as a sex toy, and is certainly not safe.

Dressup is mainly reserved for DramSoc and Musical Theatre it seems. A sole one person said they dressed up “all of the time” and another one person said they dressed up “most of the time”. Presumably, most of that was with the person walking around in a gimp suit 24/7.

Threesomes

It seems that threesomes are a lot less common that you might have heard. Just 9% of all survey respondents claim to have taken part in a threesome, with the number of these students from Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering not being high enough to have their own internal departmental threesomes. Surprisingly Materials comes out on top as the most adventurous (no pun intended), with a whopping 24% of Materials respondents claiming to have taken part in a threesome. While this might seem wild, we have to, as always, consider the possible skew these results contain due to the people most likely to take part. Then again who knows, it might be worth popping your head in at the Royal School of Mines. Second place is reserved for EEE who scored 16% while Mech Eng came third with 13%.

“Threesomes should me more widely available.”

What does it take to have a threesome? Probably guts, alcohol and an inquisitive nature. This of course doesn’t mean you are any more or less of a person for taking part in a bedroom situation with multiple partners. After all some people have different opinions on threesomes and they don’t always end happily. As well as the possibility of being an exciting, sweaty experience that leaves you smiling, a threesome can also be emotionally damaging especially if there is a friendship or relationship involved.

Adding numbers to the mix almost 12% of Imperial males have been involved with a threesome in comparison to just under 7% of females which might shine a light on how a significant number of Imperial threesomes are split by gender. However apparently 23.5% of men and 35.5% of women have been asked for a threesome, while 20.5% of males and 10% of females have been the ones asking. So it seems that guys at Imperial are much more keen on the idea of threesomes than their female counterparts. They are also pretty shameless about asking for it as well it seems. They must just think that three is company, and two’s a crowd.

Sex around the city

18% are finding places on campus to get jiggy with it. Some of you seem far too keen to avoid beds. Felix isn’t aware of any kind of housing crisis, so why 19 of you have had to have sex in Reynold’s Bar is a mystery. It’s the very public locations that confuse us. How have 18 of you had sex in Ethos’ Pool? We don’t want to know actually. Blackett is the most popular department building, 29 of you have been at it there. Frankly, we all want to stop thinking about this, get a room people.

“I have had sex in Trafalgar Square.”

Well, moving on to London locations. It seems that a lot of you are confusing your life for an episode of Skins by having sex in a park. An impressive number managed to do the deed on the street. The other locations that were given were certainly impressive to say the least. The Tube!? That’s just confusing, some commuters and tourists must have been treated to a more eventful journey then they planned.