Every once in a while, you come across one of those articles that just makes you stop and say, ‘Bwahh?’ This is one of them.

Reprinted from Telegraph.co.uk

Sex bad for grades, Cambridge survey shows

By Nicole Martin
Last Updated: 2:09am GMT 28/01/2008

Promiscuity leads to academic failure, according to a new survey of the sex lives of students at Cambridge University.
Did you manage to balance work and fun at university?

Researchers questioned more than 1,000 undergraduates and found those at poorly performing colleges had the most number of sexual partners.

Peterhouse, for example, 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.

Its students had an average of five sexual partners compared to three at Christ’s College, which came second in last year’s academic table.

Christ’s also had the highest number of virgins, with more than a quarter of respondents admitting that they had never had sex.

The online poll, published in the student magazine Varsity, also found that students studying certain subjects were more promiscuous than others.

Those reading medicine had the most number of sexual partners (eight) while those reading theology had the fewest (two).

Students studying social political science came second (seven), history third (six), modern and medieval languages (five).

Worryingly, the survey found that many students were putting their health at risk by not being tested for sexually transmitted diseases.

Four in 10 students admitted having a one-night stand but more than six in 10 said they had never been tested for HIV, chlamydia or other sexually transmitted diseases.

Cary Cooper, a professor of psychology and health at Lancaster University, said: “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.”

Ed Cumming, the magazine’s associate editor, 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.

For the original copy, with reader responses, please see http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/01/25/nsex125.xml