Navigating University As A Non-Drinking Student

Do universities need to offer more non-alcoholic options to their sober students?

Two in three students are open to doing university sober, according to Student Beans' 2024 Freshers' Report. But are universities doing enough to support their decision?

Looking into student union bars across the UK, we found:

• 60% of universities with an on campus flagship bar do not have an online drinks menu

• A third of SU bars do not offer a non-alcoholic beer or cider

• Nearly half do not have mocktails listed on their menu

• Few are branching out into more exciting non-alcoholic offerings, with only a fifth including non-alcoholic wine on their menu

• Whilst most price match or have cheaper non-alcoholic drink equivalents, the non-alcoholic beers are more expensive than their alcoholic counterpart at 1 in 5 bars.

Availability of non-alcoholic (NA) drinks at SU bars

We investigated how accessible it is for sober students, by investigating the non-alcoholic offerings at on campus or Student Union bars.

Of the 70 universities we investigated, just 40% had their drinks menu and prices available online. This lack of information could cause anxiety amongst some students who may prefer to know their options ahead of time.

For those with easy to access drinks lists, it shone a light on the lack of diversity of NA options within some menus.

Menus offering NA beer or ciders	65%
Menus offering mocktails	57%
Menus offering NA spirits	49%
Menus offering NA wines	22%

Club Soda are the UK's mindful drinking specialist and experts in alcohol and behaviour change. They're also helping to bring no- and low-alcohol drinks to the mainstream with their tasting rooms in London.

Club Soda CEO and founder, Laura Willoughby, said it might be worth chatting with a bartender: "Every venue has an alcohol-free offering, even Vodka Revs, so do a daytime reccy and take some time to see what they have and speak to the bar staff about what they can make for you. So, when you go with friends you know what you will order."

Cost of NA drinks at SU bars

Speaking to Rob Fink, CEO of alcohol-free craft beer company Big Drop, he noted alcohol-free now tastes just as good as its alcoholic counterpart. It can be vegan-friendly, lower in calories and cheaper than an alcoholic beer which presents quite a compelling case to convince consumers to purchase if drinking alcohol isn't their main reason to buy. 

Fortunately, most universities do offer their NA drinks either at a price matched or cheaper cost to their alcoholic counterparts.

However, a fifth of bars listed their cheapest NA beer as being more expensive than their cheapest pint or bottle.

	Average cheapest alcoholic option	Average cheapest NA option
Beer / Cider	£3.49	£3.25
Cocktail	£6.12	£4.12
Spirit	£2.90	£2.86

Cheap beer is a quintessential element of student life, so it would be nice to see more student-facing bars offering lower cost NA options.

Imperial College London's bar, 568, is a shining example of options for all – offering an impressive list of 16 different non-alcoholic beers, ciders, spirits, and wine. This was followed by Reading University's Mojos' 14 unique NA options, then the 11 available at University of Manchester's 532.

What is means to be a non-drinker at uni

There are many reasons why someone might not drink, as well as many ways they may navigate around alcohol in their life. For some, they are tee-total and don't touch the stuff. But others may prefer to exercise booze with caution, especially during important periods such as Freshers' Week.

For others, they may be part of the sober curious movement sweeping across the UK. Sober curious events like Sober October and Dry January draw in hundreds of thousands of dubious drinkers every year. By the end of the month many are realising the benefits of living sober.

There's no right or wrong choice when it comes to alcohol. Everyone is entitled to figure out and steer that relationship however suits them.

University 'sober societies' can offer safe spaces to experience non-alcoholic nights out. This includes the likes of hiking and movie nights to its members.

AJ De Vera, previous President of the Lancaster University Sober Society, says:

'I think it is vital for a Sober Society or something similar to exist in all universities. Before going to university, I was worried that I was going to be excluded from many events or miss out on the university experience simply because I didn't want to drink, or go to a club, but when I found Sober Society, I was able to connect with like-minded people.

'Our society's aim is to provide a safe space for people who want to hang out without the presence of alcohol — it's not exclusive to teetotal non-drinkers. We see all types of people at our socials. Some, such as myself, do not drink at all, some drink occasionally, and some actually enjoy drinking. 

AJ continued: 'I am part of other societies, and I have noticed the vast majority of events included drinking. Drinking is so ingrained in our society that non-drinkers often receive an unsolicited negative response. Some have their personal reasons for not drinking, and whatever their reasons are, they should be respected.

How societies can be more inclusive to its non-drinking members, according to AJ:

• Reassure your members: 'It's important for the executive team of any university society to let people know ahead of the event that it is absolutely okay if they do not want to drink alcohol, and that they won't be berated for it.'

• Provide alternatives: 'It's fine if a social is in a drinking venue, but make sure that there are non-alcoholic beverages available for those who don't want to drink. Bonus points for choosing venues (ie alcohol free bars) that offer non-alcoholic pints, wines and spirits as it allows people to choose to drink something similar to the rest of the group.'

• Create balance: 'There should be a good mix of drinking and sober events throughout the academic year — a big party shouldn't be the default idea. Socials like games nights and park picnics can still be great fun without the booze.'

Online Organisations to check out:

Wholesome fun can be had without a drink in hand. These communities offer safe spaces for activities without the need for alcohol:

• Sober Girl Society

• Bee Sober Official

• Join Club Soda

• The Travel Squad

• City Girl Network

The best non-alcoholic drinks to order at a bar

Not all establishments will have a wide range of NA options, but the offering is slowly growing as popularity increases. Here's some of the best non-alcoholic drinks to try when you're next out.

• Instead of beer, try Peroni Nastro Azzurro 0.0 (Non-alcoholic beer)

• Instead of cider, try Kopparberg Alcohol Free Mixed Fruit (Non-alcoholic cider)

• Instead of wine, try Black Tower Alcohol Free White Wine (Non-alcoholic wine)

• Instead of gin, try Seedlip Grove 42 Non-alcoholic Gin with your choice of mixer

• Instead of a cocktail, try asking if the bartender can make one of their cocktails without alcohol (it usually isn't a problem, depending on the ingredients). Go for a classic Nojito, a virgin version of a Mojito

• Instead of prosecco, try Nosecco (Non-alcoholic prosecco)

Methodology & Notes

*Student Beans surveyed 2,105 16-24 year olds in July 2022.

University Drinks Prices:

• We created a list of the top 70 universities from the Complete University Guide.

• We then searched for its flagship SU bar and its associated drinks menu, of which we found 23.

• Where menus did not include prices or the flagship bar was a chain (ie Newcastle University's SU Wetherspoons), the university was not included in the data.

• We then gathered information from the menus:
  

  • The number of unique NA beers / ciders / spirits / wine / mocktails available.

  • The cost of the cheapest NA beers / ciders / spirits / wine / mocktails available.

  • The cost of the cheapest and most expensive beer / cider / spirit / wine / cocktail.

  • Data on beer / cider references anything from the draught or bottled sections, where draught was a pint.

  • Where spirit, the measure was a single 25cl shot.

  • Where wine, the measure was matched across wine vs NA wine ie a glass vs a glass, a bottle vs a bottle. Whatever was available.

We acknowledge that lack of a mention on their online drinks package does not mean there are not more options in the physical bar. We also acknowledge that most bartenders are happy to create mocktails on demand.

For more information on our survey and how we collected the data, head to the Student Beans press page.