A week in the life of a Christian Student

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INTRODUCTION The landscape of our universities and the culture of being a student in the UK is a rapidly changing scene, which presents both dynamic opportunities and big discipleship challenges. Fusion exists to equip and serve any and every local church to be phenomenal at making missional disciples in the student world. But how can the church do this effectively when students often seem hard to pin down, difficult to understand and in desperate need of investment, encouragement and challenge? Taking the pulse of the average Christian student in our churches, we created a survey to find out how students are spending their time whilst at university. The results are both illuminating and remarkable. We pray that they serve every local church in more effective discipleship of their students and in helping this generation prioritise their time, energy and resources to seek first God’s Kingdom in every area of life. Interspersed throughout this report are quotes students submitted as part of the survey that provide key insights:


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Being a Christian at uni has been great. I’ve been able to meet and make friends with people who really need Jesus. It has been easy to share my faith with them because they’re my friends. Being a Christian at uni is a challenge, and involves a conscious decision with a need for bold outward workings in speech, action and life. Much consideration must be made in terms of boundaries, time management, and priorities. Being a Christian at uni has been amazing. Even just looking back to the person I was in First Year, I can see how much I have changed and grown. I have become stronger in my faith and feel much more comfortable sharing the Good News with people.


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To explore the following questions: •

How does a typical Christian student spend their time? Who do they spend it with?

• If and how they are involved in church and or Christian societies? •

If and how they are involved in the Students’ Union & non Christian societies?

What are Christian students’ thoughts and experiences of student welfare?


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METHODOLOGY Students were invited to participate in the study via various Fusion communication channels including a student email list, social media and by inviting student workers to share the survey with their student groups. Google Forms was used to collect the data and participants were incentivised through the offer of winning one of five ÂŁ20 gift vouchers. The desire was to reach a broad range of Christian students. This objective appears to have been acheived given the wide variety of responses from students at a very large number of different institutions. The results of the survey were extensively analysed by the Fusion Team alongiside statistician Dr Dave Coates PhD.

Spectrum of participants Of the 1,347 participants there was a bias to the female viewpoint with a 70:30 female - male ratio. However, there seemed to be little noticeable differences in the responses of males & females. The participants were spread equally throughout the various years of their study. The survey was only focused on the UK and was conducted in May 2015.


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Male or female? FEMALE | 68.7% MALE | 31.3% Links to the Sodexo University Lifestyle Survey A similar survey is undertaken every two years by Sodexo in conjunction with the Times Higher Education magazine. Each year panellists are recruited online via mailings from UCAS (the university admissions systems). A sample of about 2000 of these panellists complete an online questionnaire to give information about non-academic aspects of university undergraduate students’ opinions and perceptions. Where the Fusion survey asks similar questions to those on the Sodexo survey, the results are similar and details are given in the next section. This provides confidence in the quality and representativeness of Fusion’s survey. It also highlights that in a variety of ways Christian students are also simply students. More information on Sodexo can be found here: uk.sodexo.com


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A TYPICAL CHRISTIAN STUDENT


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SUMMARY OF FINDINGS There is a huge variation in the amount of time students spend studying (in lectures and doing independent study), as illustrated by the Sodexo survey. Both surveys note that some students spend less than 15 hours per week studying, whilst other students spend over 50 hours per week studying. However as a simple summary it could be said that a typical Christian student spends 20 to 25 hours per week studying. Consistent with the Sodexo survey, a typical Christian student spends around ten hours per week socialising with mates (Christian, hall, house or course mates). For some students this socialising includes time at the pub or in clubs, but about half of Fusion’s sample said they spent less than two hours per week in pubs or clubs. Male students are more likely to spend over ten hours per week in pubs or clubs and male students are likely to consume more alcohol. Interestingly, given the general perception of students, both the Sodexo survey and the Fusion survey show about a third of students saying that they do not drink alcohol.


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How many hours per week do you spend socialising?

FIGURE

ONE

Other (0.2%)

More than 20 hours

Less Than 5 hours (9.8%)

(11.3%)

Between 10-15 hours (16.4%)

Between 10-15 hours (29.2%)

Between 5-10 hours (33.2%)


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How many hours per week do you spend socialising? Other (1.6%)

More than 25 hours (29.4%)

Less than 10 hours (7.2%)

Between 10-15 hours (17.8%)

Between 20-25 hours (21.9%)

Between 15-20 hours (22%)


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The 2016 Sodexo survey quotes 28% of students as having part-time jobs. 29% of respondents to the Fusion survey said they had a part-time job. Having a part-time job made no difference to the hours spent socialising but typically lead to a small reduction in hours spent studying. A majority (59%) of Christian students are members of a Student Union sports team or society (apart from Christian societies). Of these students, over a third (36.5%) are in positions of leadership of the society. Similarly a majority (63.5%) of Christian students are members of a Christian society. Of this segment over half (55%) will attend one or two meetings per week. Together these imply that about a third of Christian students are regularly attending a Christian society. It is highly likely that a Christian student consider themselves to be part of a local church with 96% saying they are part of a church. Of these students, over three quarters say they attend

church every week. Similarly over three quarters say they attend at least one mid-week church gathering with a substantial minority (22%) saying they attend more than one mid-week church gathering. Of the small number of Christian students who are not part of a church, over three quarters say they are not interested in finding a church. For some this is because they have tried and been put off, whilst others admit it is because they have not put in the effort to look for one. For the vast majority (92%) of Christian students, their non-Christian friends know they are a Christian and there is no gender difference here. Just under half (44%) of Christian students consider it reasonably easy to share that they are Christians with their nonChristian friends.


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Accountability in a close knit discipleship group is key to keeping me diligent in my time management, sleep and quiet times. Church community really helps keep me centred, supported and accountable. It’s a great way to build connections on campus, which helps integrate my life outside of church with my Christian friends. Church leaders don’t seem to be able to tell me what my gifting is or equip me for one-to-one evangelism. I feel like I need more practice! Encouragingly, a large majority (87%) of Christian students are likely to socialise with their non-Christian friends, though for about half of these it is only occasionally or ‘now and again’. Just over half of students (53%) say they are being discipled by someone in the church. Being discipled makes a clear difference in many ways, for example in terms of the likelihood of sharing Jesus, in terms of finding sharing Jesus ‘easier’ and in terms of inviting non-Christian friends to church.


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Sadly, many Christian students (72%) rarely or never invite their non-Christian friends to church. However, Christian students are more likely to invite non-Christian friends into their Christian community with only 28% saying they rarely or never do this. The bulk (77%) of Christian students ‘hardly ever’ pray with people who do not know Jesus. Christian students who are being discipled are twice as likely (8%) to pray most weeks with someone who is a non-Christian compared to Christian students who are not being discipled (4%). Also male students are more than twice as likely (10%) to pray most weeks with someone who is a non-Christian compared to female students (4.3%). Nearly three quarters (74.6%) of Christian students read their Bible at least once a week. For those being discipled this figure is 84% compared with 68% for those who are not being discipled. Concerning student welfare, the majority of Christian students (86%) felt that their diet was fairly well balanced. Similarly, the majority of Christian students (75%) felt that their sleep patterns were average or above average. Unsurprisingly, nearly 70% of Christian students knew of someone with mental health symptoms. Most Christian students are not concerned about their student debt (71%). 40% of Christian participants drink 1-2 alcoholic drinks per week. 34% were teetotal.

I find it extremely hard to tell my friends who aren’t Christians about Jesus. I’m nervous that they will challenge me, make me look stupid or ask questions I can’t answer, only making them move further away from it all.


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The best conversations about Jesus that I have with my friends are the quiet one-to-ones. While the big events are great, it’s worth saying that that isn’t the only way to talk to people about Jesus! I’ve loved sharing Jesus whilst at Uni and have joyfully seen a few people give their lives to Jesus. I find a real tension in that I have got sucked into a bunch of Christian leadership, which is amazing because I get to encourage people to fight for justice, boldly evangelise and facilitate Christian community well, but this pulls me away from my non-Christian friends a bit more then I’d like. I’m looking forward to being back in halls with all my non-Christian friends next year and being much more embedded.



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A number of things stood out to us from the survey results. These findings could help churches as we seek to disciple the students of the UK, for whom these findings are very telling. We also want to pose some challenges and considerations for Christian students and how they spend their time, based on our findings.


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BARS, PUBS AND CLUBS FIGURE

THREE

How much time do you spend in pubs, clubs or Student Union Bars each week? More than 10 hours

Between 5-10 hours (8.7%)

(1.7%)

None

(20.3%)

Between 2-5 hours (31.9%)

Less than 2 hours (37.4%)


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One of the most striking results from the survey was just how little time Christians are spending in the more popular gathering spaces for students, namely on nights out or in SU bars or clubs. The overwhelming majority of Christian students, almost 90%, spend less than five hours a week in these party spaces even though this is where many campus leaders and influencers socialise. Five hours would be the equivalent to one night out to some bars and then a club for a student, thus suggesting there is currently almost no Christian presence on student nights out each week. As a church, how might we address the lack of Christian presence in key socialising places for student life? Have you considered night club ministry or at least making contact with the bar managers or hosts of such spaces to begin to make connections between the church and this area of influence on campus? Where we’re aware of it happening; assistance with student welfare on nights out is eagerly welcomed. How might you disciple students to navigate the drinking and promiscuous culture of a student night out so that there’s a distinctive ‘other way’ being presented in the university social scene? As a student, why are you probably not going out to bars and clubs? What is it about that kind of socialising that does not appeal to you? What are some of the challenges you find with nights out and student bars as a Christian and what might you need from your church community to help you navigate this world as a representative of Jesus? What are your friends doing to socialise and how might you engage more with their world? What alternative invitations for socilaising could you offer your friends who don’t follow Jesus if you struggle to be in the pubs and clubs with them?


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I have found being a Christian at uni easier than I expected, people welcome and respect it and don’t really mind my views. I love being a Christian at uni. I find some CU and church stuff hard to fit into but love being with my flat mates and chatting to them about Jesus when we can! I think it can be incredibly hard especially in First Year, but being open about Christianity from the get-go is definitely the best way forward.


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NON-CHRISTIAN SOCIETY INVOLVEMENT FOUR

Excluding Christian societies, are you a part of any Student Union societies or sports teams?

No

Yes

FIGURE

(41.2%)

(58.8%)


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We were encouraged to discover that well over half of Christian students participate in a university society that isn’t exclusivley Christian and that over a third of these students are also in positions of leadership within these societies. As a church, do you offer any leadership training and development for students who are leaders outside of a church context? How might you support and encourage students to become influencers on campus in student societies? How might this affect their priorities and how they spend their time? As a student, have you ever considered that non-Christian campus societies present a key opportunity for mission and a context in which to be salt and light to a group of friends? What do you need in terms of support to navigate being a member or leader of a society? What might you have to say “no” to, in order to have time to be a member of a society?

Balancing my time is one of the hardest things; remembering to prioritise having time and energy left for personal evangelism, while serving at church & Christian events and studying can be hard. Being at uni has really helped to develop my faith. I have to make a decision to follow Jesus rather than just go with what my parents are doing. It’s been amazing so far and I can’t wait to see what God’s got in store for next year!”


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Time spent in Christian meetings/ gatherings

FIGURE

FIVE

How often do you attend a meeting as part of a Christian Society? Four times a week (3.3%)

Three times a week

More than five times a week (1.5%)

Never (8.2%)

(9.9%)

Two times a week (22.3%)

Once or twice a month (22.2%)

Once a week (32.5%)


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FIGURE

SIX

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Do you go to any regular midweek church meetings or gatherings outside of Sunday Church? Five

(0.4%)

Four

(0.9%)

More than five (1%)

Three (4.9%)

Two

(22.6%)

One

(70.1%)


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The survey also revealed that Christian students are very likely to have many points of engagement with Christian activity and community. Encouragingly, given the students surveyed will have mainly been individuals who used Student Linkup, over 95% of Christian students have found a home in church. However, when you begin to add together the amount of times Christian students are participating in church gatherings, as well as one or two Christian society meetings, then this might pose a challenge to living mission as a lifestyle. There seems a serious potential for over half of Christians students to be in more than three Christian meetings per week. As a church, are you aware of how many Christian meetings and gatherings your students are being asked to attend and how do you help them discern what to prioritise? Does peer to peer evangelism get mentioned as a priority? How are you ensuring as a church that students aren’t living in a Christian bubble? Do you do any teaching around the theology of being the church and what are your church membership expectations, if you have any? As a student, how healthy is your diary looking in terms of time in Christian community and time investing in those outside of your Christian circle? How much pressure or duty do you feel around attending Christian meetings and what would you change about your priorities if there was no pressure or expectation on you? Do you think you are living in a Christian bubble? Do you feel disconnected or unsupported by the Christian family?

Getting into a good church is key to keeping your faith strong at uni.


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Our CU is a very close-knit bunch of people which is great so we socialise a lot together. While being on committee we are working towards events where we can invite non-Christians constantly where they will not feel uncomfortable.� FIGURE

SEVEN

On a scale of 1-5, how regularly do you invite your non-Christian friends to church?

48.7%

24.1%

20.9%

5.1% 1.3% Never - 1

2

3

4

Every Week -5


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This area of the results poses big challenges as to how we equip students to share Jesus with their friends. Over 70% of Christian students do mix their Christian and not-yet-Christian friends, and it is encouraging to note over 90% of Christian students say that their friends know they are Christians. However, how this translates into making disciples still has a way to go. For example; we were surprised to discover that the vast majority of students do not offer to pray for their not-yet-Christian friends. Yet, we know both from statistics and anecdotally that prayer is a powerful way to share Jesus and by and large, welcomed by the recipient. As a church, how much practical teaching and encouragement do you give to help students share Jesus regularly and effectively with their not-yet-Christian friends? How much is prayer a part of your church culture and how might you help students consider prayer as a tool for sharing Jesus? Nearly half of Christian students irregularly invite their friends to church, how might you increase the culture of invitation and make your church gathering a place your student community want to invite people to regularly? As a student, what do you feel you need to help you share your faith with your friends more? What would you change about your church gatherings to make them a place you’d confidently and regularly invite your friends to? Have you considered prayer as a key way to share Jesus and what would it take for you to offer to pray more with your friends? How might you mix your friendship groups more meaningfully rather than just casually so that your not-yet-Christian friends feel genuinely at home in Christian community?

I’ve found that people are surprisingly open to talking about Christianity.


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I’ve found being a Christian at university a lot easier than I thought I would, mainly because I’ve made so many amazing Christian friends and have a great support group. I’ve discovered I’m not afraid to talk about my faith and my nonChristian friends and flatmates are very open and interested in it. I find that Christians coming into uni tend to go one of two ways. Either they get stuck in pretty quickly and grow in their faith, or they don’t really commit to anything and just fall away. CU halls groups and church small groups are, in my experience, almost as important as Sunday church for keeping Christians interested and involved in church life.


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Student Discipleship ‘Discipleship’ can be a very broad term. We have interpreted it as being a more intentional investment between individuals to help them become more like Jesus. The survey results remind us how key this kind of investment is for student mission. Essentially, if a student is discipled deliberately and regularly through the local church, they are more likely to share their faith with their friends and invite people to church and they are more engaged with the Bible. As a church, how might you seek to increase the level of discipleship going on between individuals? Who needs to be better connected in order to be part of a more intentional discipleship relationship? What, if any, training do you do to help people become more effective disciplers and mentors? Most Christian students are engaging with the bible at least once a week, however could this just be during a church service where they are hearing the bible being preached? How might you increase biblical literacy during the week, where the student cannot rely on a church leader to mediate their engagement with Scripture for them? As a student, who do you look to, to learn more about Jesus? Do you meet up with anyone regularly to help you walk closer to Jesus and encourage you to share him? Who might you need to ask for a meet-up so that you take responsibility for your own faith growth? Who could you disciple even as you are being invested in? What would help you engage with the bible outside of a church context where someone else is teaching you?


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Church should invest more into students and young adults. We are in a formative stage and we need encouragement and training to go out into the workplace and uni and share Jesus! Being involved in a missional and strongly biblically rooted church is vital. It is a real support. Get plugged into a church, get involved in a community. Don’t flit around too much- the perfect church doesn’t exist no matter how much you look for it.



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CONCLUSION In conclusion, we hope and pray these findings from the world of Christian students in the UK are not just food for thought, but fuel for action into how you follow Jesus and make disciples in the student world. One of the most striking results we want to leave you with at the end of this document is on discipleship. Nearly half of all individual students committed to local church do not consider themselves as being discipled by anyone. Although the definition of what discipleship consistitutes is not clarified, this result still clearly presents a challenge to how young people are being invested in and supported in the church currently. Students, the challenge is for you to seek out people you can learn from and ask them if you can meet up and at least try to begin a more deliberate relationship where you can know more of Jesus. Can you take more responsibility for your discipleship? Church, the challenge for you is around the focus and access to discipleship in your community, not just front-led gatherings or meetings where discipleship is perhaps assumed but not overtly pursued. How might we see every member of the body of Christ knowing themselves as a disciple who is also being discipled?


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FIGURE

EIGHT

No

(46.7%)

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Are you discipled by anyone in your church?

Yes

(53.3%)

Fusion have some helpful resources already available for you to access and utilise as you respond to the challenges of this survey. We are developing further resources, teaching and blogs on ‘the seven spheres of influence’ in the student world that explore the different areas in which students can and do spend their time.


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38 The book Living Mission by Miriam Swaffield and Rich Wilson is a must-read for any student or leader of students seeking to revitalise their commitment and confidence in sharing their faith in the university world.

Finally, our newest resource, Mission Styles, is an online test that produces bespoke results for an individual seeking to learn how they most naturally share Jesus and how they might better share their faith with others. This resource is both fun and incredibly practical for evangelism and is part of Fusion’s response to the findings of this student survey and other similar research results on evangelism in the UK church. We believe it will help people know how to share Jesus more authentically and effectively.

If you, like us, see extraordinary potential for people to come to know Jesus in the student world and go on to shape society, we invite you put your convictions into practice.


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PARTNER WITH FUSION • As a church, by registering here and getting on the student mission map: *fusion.uk.com/churches • As a student by using studentlinkup.org to connect to church and stay in the loop with the movement *fusion.uk.com students • As a student worker: get the training you need to help you respond to the challenges this survey has presented *fusion.uk.com/student-workers • As a supporter, by standing with us in prayer and financial giving (we only exist because people like you give so that we can give out to churches and students anywhere) fusion.uk.com/give • And stay in touch, sign up to get the monthly fusion updates here Thanks for being on the adventure with us, and we look forward to working with you for he sake of the student world in the years to come.


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APPENDIXES Appendix 1: City Distinctions Cambridge

35 responses from Cambridge were compared with ‘everyone else’. Essentially, Christian students in Cambridge are more academic than those elsewhere! 77% said they studied more than 25 hours per week compared with 30% elsewhere. Only 9% of those from Cambridge said they had a part-time job, compared with 29% elsewhere. 77% of those from Cambridge said they were a member of a nonChristian society, compared with 58% elsewhere. 86% said they were a member of a Christian society compared with 63% elsewhere – and they attend more meetings per week (30% said four times a week or more compared with 4% elsewhere). But their answers for the ‘church’ questions are the same as students elsewhere. Respondents from Cambridge are twice as likely to read their Bible every day (60% of those at Cambridge compared with 29% elsewhere). This is slightly unexpected because those at Cambridge are no more likely to be discipled than students elsewhere, and generally being discipled increased the chance of reading the Bible every day.

Durham

89 responses from Durham were compared with ‘everyone else’. For the majority of questions Durham students are just like any other. Durham students are slightly harder working on average (69% of Durham students say they spend over 20 hours studying per week compared with 52% of “other university” students). Durham students are slightly more likely to attend church every week and more likely to be part of a non-Christian society. 84% of Durham students say they go to church every week compared with 76% of “other university” students. 79% of Durham students say they are part of a non-Christian society compared with 57%


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of “other university” students. This also leads to a slight difference in Durham students being slightly more likely to have a leadership position in a non-Christian society.

Leicester

48 responses from Leicester were compared with ‘everyone else’. Leicester, similar to Nottingham, is a microcosm of the UK; there are no differences anywhere between Leicester students and students at ‘other universities’.

London

66 responses from London were compared with ‘everyone else’. In the context of this survey ‘London’ covers quite a variety of institutions but most students probably experience the fact that travelling takes longer in London than in most other places. In spite of these features, London students are just like any other, except that they spend less time socialising; presumably because they spend more time travelling or because going to see friends is more time-consuming. 35% of London students say they spend over 10 hours per week socialising compared with 58% of “other university” students. And just two students say they spend over 20 hours (3%) compared with 12% of “other university” students. In terms of studying, approximately 50% of London students study over 20 hours per week which is the same as for ‘other universities’.

Loughborough

35 responses from Loughborough were compared with ‘everyone else’. There is just one difference between Loughborough students and ‘everyone else’. There are less Christians in positions of leadership in Student Union (nonChristian) societies. It could be presumed that this is due to the calibre of leadership in sports societies at Loughborough.


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Manchester

42 responses from Manchester were compared with ‘everyone else’. Student church seems stronger in Manchester; 95% said they went to a midweek church meeting, compared with 76% elsewhere. By contrast only 48% of respondents from Manchester said they were a member of a Christian society compared with 64% elsewhere. It should be noted that this could be an overestimate given that 6 of the members of the Christian society said they never attended the society. That leaves only 14 of 42 respondents (33%) who are active members of a Christian society.

Nottingham

62 responses from Nottingham were compared to ‘everyone else’. Nottingham, similar to Leicester, is a microcosm of the UK. There are no differences anywhere between Nottingham students and students at ‘other universities’.

Sheffield

41 responses from Sheffield were compared with ‘everyone else’. In many ways the responses for Sheffield closely correlate to those from Manchester. As with Manchester, student church seems stronger in Sheffield; 95% said they went to a mid-week church meeting, compared with 76% elsewhere. By contrast (but again like Manchester) only 49% of respondents from Sheffield said they were a member of a Christian society compared with 64% elsewhere (though this time only 2 of the members of a Christian Society said they never actually attended a Christian Society). An encouraging difference for Sheffield is that 90% of the respondents said they were being discipled by someone in their church (37 of 41) compared to only 52% elsewhere. Manchester was not similar in that respect.

Southampton

48 responses from Southampton were compared with ‘everyone else’. Again,


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mostly students at Southampton are similar to ‘everyone else’ but Christian societies seem to have a stronger hold on students and they are more involved in non-Christian societies. This resonates with Fusion team member experience on the ground in Southampton. Fewer Southampton students go to a church based midweek meeting (43%) compared to 78% at ‘other universities’. However, Southampton students are more likely to be part of a Christian society (77% compared with 63% for ‘other universities’). They attend mid-week Christian society meetings more often, 68% attending more than once per week compared with 36% at ‘other universities’. Southampton students are slightly more likely to be members of non-Christian Student Union societies (77% of Southampton respondents vs. 58% for “other universities”).

York

96 responses from York were compared with ‘everyone else’. York students are generally just like any other. However, York students are more sociable on average and less likely to attend a Christian society. Only 28% of York students spent less than 10 hours per week studying compared with 44% of ‘other university’ students. There was just one York student who socialised less than 5 hours per week compared with 127 ‘other university’ students. Consequently York students spend more time at the pub etc. (59% over 2 hours per week compared with 42% of ‘other university’ students) and drink more alcohol. In terms of being a member of a Christian society, York students are slightly less likely to be a member (48% compared with 64% of ‘other university’ students). However of that 48%, they are likely to attend more often than other students.


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Appendix 2: Range of Sports & Socities


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Appendix 3: The Results & Questions in full: Spending Time – how and who with? HOW MANY HOURS PER WEEK DO YOU SPEND SOCIALISING? Less than 5 hours | 9.8% Between 5-10 hours | 33.2% Between 10 - 15 hours | 29.2% Between 15 - 20 hours | 16.4% More than 20 hours | 11.3% Other | 0.2%

HOW MANY HOURS PER WEEK DO YOU SPEND STUDYING, OR IN LECTURES? Less than 10 hours | 7.2% Between 10 - 15 hours | 17.8% Between 15 - 20 hours | 22% Between 20 - 25 hours | 21.9% More than 25 hours | 29.4% Other | 1.6%

WHO DO YOU PREDOMINATELY SOCIALISE WITH? Course mates | 15.3% House/ hall mates | 35.5% Christian mates | 35.6% SU Society/ Sports team mates | 5.7% Other | 7.9%


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WHO DO YOU LIVE WITH? Christian mates | 15.8% Mixture of Christian and non-Christian mates | 34.7% Course mates | 13.7% SU Society/ Sports team mates | 1.9% Other | 24.6%

HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU SPEND IN PUBS, CLUBS OR STUDENT UNION BARS EACH WEEK? None | 20.3% Less than 2 hours | 37.4% Between 2 - 5 hours | 31.9% Between 5 - 10 hours | 8.7% More than 10 hours | 1.7%

HOW MUCH ALCOHOL DO YOU DRINK PER WEEK? None | 33.7% 1 or 2 drinks | 39.1% 2 - 5 drinks | 18% 5 - 10 drinks | 6.8% More than 10 drinks | 2.4%


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50 DO YOU HAVE ANY PART TIME WORK? Yes | 28.7% No | 71.3%

OF THOSE WHO ANSWERED YES: HOW MANY HOURS PER WEEK DO YOU WORK? Less than 5 hours | 28% Between 5 - 10 hours | 29.8% Between 10 - 15 hours | 15.2% Between 15 - 20 hours | 12.3% More than 20 hours | 8% Other | 6.7%

Non-Christian Society Involvement

EXCLUDING CHRISTIAN SOCIETIES, ARE YOU A PART OF ANY STUDENT UNION SOCIETIES OR SPORTS TEAMS? Yes | 28.7% No | 71.3%


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Christian Society Involvement ARE YOU A MEMBER OF A CHRISTIAN SOCIETY? Yes | 63.5% No | 36.5.3%

OF THOSE WHO ANSWERED YES: HOW OFTEN DO YOU ATTEND A MEETING AS PART OF A CHRISTIAN SOCIETY? Never | 8.2% Once or twice a month | 22.2% Once a week | 32.5% Two times a week | 22.3% Three times a week | 9.9% Four times a week | 3.3% More than five times a week | 1.5%

DO YOU SERVE ON THE LEADERSHIP OR EXEC OF A CHRISTIAN SOCIETY? Yes | 37.7% No | 62.3%


A WEEK IN THE LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN STUDENT

52 OF THOSE WHO ANSWERED NO: WHY AREN’T YOU A MEMBER OF A CHRISTIAN SOCIETY? I’m not interested | 10.7% I just haven’t gotten round to it | 9.1% I’ve tried and I’ve been put off | 29.4% I don’t have time for it | 26.7% Other | 24.1%

Church Involvement

ARE YOU A PART OF A LOCAL CHURCH? Yes | 95.9% No | 4.1%

OF THOSE WHO ANSWERED YES: IN AN AVERAGE MONTH, HOW OFTEN DO YOU GO TO A SUNDAY CHURCH MEETING? Once | 4.3% Twice | 4.2% Three times | 10.9% Every Week | 77.8% Other | 2.9%


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ARE YOU DISCIPLED BY ANYONE IN YOUR CHURCH? Yes | 53.3% No | 46.7%

DO YOU GO TO ANY REGULAR MIDWEEK CHURCH MEETINGS OR GATHERINGS OUTSIDE OF SUNDAY CHURCH? One | 70.1% Two | 22.6% Three | 4.9% Four | 0.9% Five | 0.4% More than five | 1%

OF THOSE WHO ANSWERED NO: WHY AREN’T YOU A PART OF A LOCAL CHURCH? I don’t want one | 14.5% I’ve tried and I’ve been put off | 23.6% I can’t find one | 14.5% I just haven’t gotten around to looking for one | 27.3% Other | 20%


A WEEK IN THE LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN STUDENT

54 WOULD YOU STILL LIKE TO FIND A LOCAL CHURCH? Yes | 22.6% No | 77.4% N.B. WE FOLLOWED UP WITH THOSE 12 STUDENTS & INVITED THEM TO #LINKUPNOW!

Sharing Faith

DO YOUR NON-CHRISTIAN MATES KNOW YOU’RE A CHRISTIAN? None of them | 1% A few of them | 7.3% Most of them | 39.6% Everyone | 52.2%

ON A SCALE OF 1-5, HOW NATURAL OR EASY DO YOU FIND SHARING JESUS IS WITH YOUR NONCHRISTIAN FRIENDS? I avoid it at all costs: One | 1.8% Two | 18% Three | 44.4% Four | 28.3% It’s very easy and natural: Five | 7.5


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DO YOU EVER MIX YOUR NON-CHRISTIAN FRIENDS WITH YOUR CHRISTIAN FRIENDS AT SOCIAL EVENTS? Never | 4.8% By Accident | 22.6% Now and again | 46.8% Deliberately from time to time | 24.3% Deliberately regulary | 6.2% All the time | 9.3%

ON A SCALE OF 1-5, HOW REGULARLY DO YOU INVITE YOUR NON-CHRISTIAN FRIENDS TO CHURCH? Never: One | 24.1% Two | 48.7% Three | 20.9% Four | 28.3% It’s very easy and natural: Five | 7.5

ON A SCALE OF 1-5, HOW COMFORTABLE DO YOU FEEL ABOUT INVITING YOUR NON-CHRISTIAN FRIENDS INTO YOUR CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY? Extremely uncomfortable: One | 5.4% Two | 24.7% Three | 36.4% Four | 25.7% It’s very easy and natural: Five | 7.8%


A WEEK IN THE LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN STUDENT

56 HOW OFTEN DO YOU PRAY WITH PEOPLE WHO DON’T KNOW JESUS? Hardly ever | 77.2% Less than once a week | 16.5% A couple of times a week | 3.5% A few times a week | 1.9% Every day | 0.8%

HOW OFTEN DO YOU READ THE BIBLE? Hardly ever | 8.4% Less than once a week | 17% A couple of times a week | 21.1% A few times a week | 24.1% Every day | 29.4%

Student Welfare ON A SCALE OF 1-5, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT PAYING FOR YOUR STUDENT DEBT?? Not at all concerned: One | 43.9% Two | 27.2% Three | 15.8% Four | 9.7% It’s very easy and natural: Five | 3.5%


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IS YOUR DIET WELL BALANCED? I’m a junk food addict: One | 3.6% Two | 10.2% Three | 30.9% Four | 40.8% I eat my 5 a day and then some: Five | 14.5%

HOW ARE YOUR SLEEP PATTERNS? I don’t get anywhere near enough sleep: One | 6.1% Two | 18.8% Three | 27.3% Four | 35.4% I eat my 5 a day and then some: Five | 12.3%

DO YOU OR ANY OF YOUR FRIENDS EXPERIENCE ANY MENTAL HEALTH SYMPTOMS? Yes No


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Concluding Questions ON A SCALE OF 1-5, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT PAYING FOR YOUR STUDENT DEBT?? ARE YOU MALE OR FEMALE? Male Female

WHAT UNIVERSITY ARE YOU STUDYING AT?

WHAT COURSE ARE YOU STUDYING?

WHAT STAGE ARE YOU AT?

WHAT STAGE ARE YOU AT? First year | 34.5% Second Year | 31% Final Year | 34.5%


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hello@fusion.uk.com | www.fusion.uk.com | 01509 268 505 Fusion UK is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales No. 3679369 and a registered charity No. 1073572. Registered Office: Unit 18, The Office Village, North Road, Loughborough, LE11 1QJ. Š Fusion UK 2016. All rights reserved. The right of Dave Coates, Matt Fisher & Miriam Swaffield to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission from Fusion UK.


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