1 in 4 students who gamble at risk of harm

A quarter of university students who gamble might be experiencing harm and half say their educational experience is being affected, according to a new study,

At the end of last year, more than 2,000 UK university students were surveyed on their betting habits and 71% said they'd gambled in the last twelve months.

Of this number, 28% were found to be at "moderate risk" of developing a gambling addiction, and 24% were already exhibiting "problem gambling" behaviour.

Half of the students surveyed said gambling had affected their university experience. More than one in ten had struggled to pay for food as a result of spending money on bets.

One in ten also said they had missed lectures or tutorials and the same number believed gambling had affected the quality of their assignments or grades.

Charity Ygam stressed the need for universities to take account of the issue. chief executive Dr Jane Rigbye said:

“We can now see that not only are a large percentage of the student population gambling on a regular basis, many of them are doing so in a way that may cause them to experience harm.

“The data further emphasises the importance of educating our young people on the risks associated with gambling. It is crucial that universities engage and take this issue seriously."

CARE is calling for the government to reform gambling laws but a whitepaper setting out reforms has now been delayed four time. Last year, CARE's Tim Cairns said:

“Every day in the UK a person takes their own life because of gambling-related harm. Delaying reform will only cause more, untold grief. Given reports that key reforms, such as an industry levy, were to be dropped from the whitepaper, any new Conservative leader coming into office must ask whose side they are on. Will they fight to help the vulnerable? Or side with the gambling industry?

“Reform needs to be comprehensive. Curbs need to be placed on advertising, on the relationship between gambling and sport, and measures are needed to ensure children are kept safe. Given the cost to society of gambling-related harm, a meaningful statutory levy needs to be put in place. The industry should be forced to pay for the harm it creates, not the NHS and taxpayers.”