SOUTHAMPTON University chiefs today defended their students after a shock survey revealed scholars' cravings for sex, drugs and drink.

In a league table of campus hedonism, a third of Southampton students claimed to have sex every week and a third said they had taken illegal drugs.

Their average weekly spending on booze - £21.81 - was the fourth highest of the universities polled by Mori for the Adam Smith Institute, a freemarket think-tank.

Some 1,000 students were quizzed at ten universities in England, Wales and Scotland to build up a picture of the behaviour of our future leaders.

But the results have immediately been slammed as unfair and unreliable by university staff at Southampton.

Spokesman Peter Reader said: "All young people play hard and the survey makes no comparison with those who are working, in the armed forces, or unemployed.

"Also, there are 98 universities in Britain, not just ten, so this can only be a very partial view of student life.

"Students are working harder academically because the regime under which they are assessed is more rigorous now. End-of-term exams are not the only test - they have to hand in work all through the year."

Manchester University was ranked as the most hedonistic in the poll, with students spending an average of £25.39 on alcohol every week, and 69 per cent saying they had taken drugs.

Almost half said they had sex at least once a week, and one in 11 claimed they had it every day.

Overall, today's average student spends just over £20 a week on drink - nearly four times as much as the outlay on books.

On the work side, they hope most for sociable and friendly colleagues in a future career (59 per cent) followed closely by a high salary (48 per cent).

Fewer than one in five believe social background will help them achieve their goals.

Students are tolerant of pornography and violence on television, gays and lesbians and abortion, but the majority think fox-hunting with hounds and ecstasy should be banned.

Nobody was available for comment at the university's students' union.

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