The University of Cambridge has a global reputation for accepting some of the brightest minds in the world, with alumni ranging from Nobel Prize winners to Hollywood actors. However, it might be time for Cambridge students to return to the books, as a recent Varsity survey suggests that their knowledge in one important area is lacking: sexual health and contraception.

Half of Cambridge students surveyed admitted that they have had unprotected sex, and yet a notable lack of knowledge about contraception and the risks associated with sexually transmitted diseases (STIs) was very apparent.

One in ten students surveyed believed that there is no risk of pregnancy when a woman is menstruating, and similarly one in ten students thought that wearing two condoms is safer – two incorrect myths about contraception.

Knowledge about emergency contraception – the ‘morning-after’ pill – was most obviously lacking. Over one in three students (35 per cent) mistakenly believed that taking emergency contraception can affect a woman’s ability to bear children in future, and 60 per cent of students wrongly thought that emergency contraception only works if taken within 48 hours.

A lack of knowledge about contraception is certainly not limited to students: a 2009 Populus poll of over 2000 adults found that 92 per cent of people cannot name the 15 types of contraception available.

Lisa Power, head of policy at Terrence Higgins Trust, a charity which works to improve sexual health in the UK, said: “University students are no smarter than many other young people when it comes to sexual health. They are just as likely to believe myths about condoms and to have got more of their sex education in the playground than the classroom.”

Knowledge about STIs showed a similar deficiency. Many STIs can remain asymptomatic for years, and yet nearly two thirds of Cambridge students said they would not consider being tested for an STI unless they were experiencing symptoms.

One second year student, who preferred to remain anonymous, told Varsity: “When I came up to University I didn’t have a clue about sex. A year on, I think I know a fair bit but I still haven’t a clue about STIs.”

Only one in five would correctly recognise the most common symptom of an STI – discharge, or altered discharge in women – while nearly half of students thought that pain when urinating was more likely.

Although 90 per cent of students surveyed knew that Chlamydia is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the UK, only 52 per cent realised just how common it is – one in ten people in the UK is infected with the disease.

Similarly, while 94 per cent knew that untreated Chlamydia can cause infertility in women, less than half knew that it can be transmitted to newborns and can cause ectopic pregnancy, which can be fatal.

A lack of knowledge about Chlamydia is particularly worrying, not only because of its prevalence in the UK at the moment, but also because it is asymptomatic in up to 50 per cent of men and 80 per cent of women, which most Cambridge students were unaware of.

Knowledge about other, less common STIs was similarly inadequate.

For example, 64 per cent realised that Herpes Type 1, the oral strain which causes cold sores, can also cause genital Herpes. However, worryingly, 81 per cent of students were unaware of the extent of Herpes Type 1 diagnoses in the UK – as many as 70 per cent of people are infected with the strain.

Syphilis, although it had almost been eradicated in the UK, has been returning at a worrying speed: between 1997 and 2007, this STI saw a 1200 per cent increase, a fact which only 8 per cent of Cambridge students were aware of.

The students surveyed admitted to their lack of knowledge about STIs and contraception, as highlighted by the survey. Before answering the questions, 92 per cent felt they were either very or quite well-informed about this subject, but after completing this survey, 27 per cent decided they were not well-informed.

The implications of this apparent lack of knowledge among Cambridge students are not to be underestimated. 94 per cent of Cambridge students who took the survey agreed that sexual health is an important issue facing young people today.

According to UNICEF, young people in the UK have the worst sexual health, as well as the highest rate of unplanned pregnancy, in Western Europe.

The 16-24 age category represents 12 per cent of the population and yet they account for more than half of all new STI diagnoses in the UK, and 65 per cent of new Chlamydia diagnoses.

This age group is most at risk of contracting an STI, since the peak age for a sexually transmitted infection is 19-20 for women and 20-23 for men. They also experience high levels of reinfection, and around one in ten patients within this category will be reinfected within a year.

However, this is also the age group that visits sexual health clinics the least frequently. The National Union of Students (NUS) suggested a reason for this: “These are highly stigmatised conditions which people don’t feel able to discuss openly. When students have difficulty getting tested or treated for an STI, they are less likely to complain and can feel isolated.”

In response to the news that total new STI diagnoses have risen to almost half a million per year in the UK, Sir Nick Partridge, Chief Executive of the Terrence Higgins Trust, said that it was “staggering”, and added: “Until we improve sex education and give extra support to young people, they will continue to take avoidable risks with their sex lives.”

Sexual health education and the provision of information about contraception has long been a heated topic in government and media reports. There have been repeated calls for an increase in information about sexual health provided to school children and university students alike.

Cambridge students also called for increased availability of information. Before the survey, the majority of students said they were happy with the level of information provided in Cambridge, but after completing the questions, one in five said they were not satisfied.

One Pembroke student said: “I actually don’t know where I’d have learnt about sexual health if it weren’t for my more experienced friends. There may be loads of information available but there doesn’t currently seem to be a good stream of getting it out there.”

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) advises that everybody should use a condom with any new sexual partner and visit a sexual health clinic whenever they get a new partner. It further advises that sexually active people should have STI screenings at least once a year.

Confused about condoms? Stumped by STIs?

For more information, visit: www.sexualhealthcambs.nhs.uk

For your nearest sexual health clinic, visit The Laurels or Addenbrooke's GUM clinic