Photo by: renee_mcgurk | Flickr
A new report has named the most dangerous university towns and cities. The report is based upon the high levels of crime Britain’s undergraduates are exposed to.
The research, conducted by Sturents.com, focused on the student areas of 64 towns in England and Wales.
Sturents.com first analysed 535,468 crimes in the student areas and then measured the results against the amount of people living there, including non-students and students.
Universities ranking highly for crime included Brighton, Swansea and Stoke-on-Trent.
The data revealed that in 2014, Brighton ranked as the highest in levels of recorded crime, averaging at 829 incidents per thousand residents over the period.
Swansea, Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle followed with 633, 534 and 519 crimes per thousand residents.
The survey also discovered crimes varying with towns.
Brighton experienced the most sexual assault incidents and Swansea suffered the most drug offences. Wolverhampton experienced most robbery and Cambridge was highest for bicycle theft.
Co-founder of Sturents.com, Michael Rainsford said: “Crime statistics serve as an important metric for students looking to make an informed choice about where to live. Our research has uncovered the alarming statistic that students live in areas with crime rates 2.5 times higher than the national average. This year so far has been huge for investment in the student accommodation market. We hope that going forward student safety will be high on the agenda.”
Mr Rainsford said Brighton’s lively nightlife combined with the large amount of students living in the city centre, could be contributory to the high crime rate.
The home of Royal Holloway University – Egham and Surrey, ranked as the lowest in terms of crime levels, at an average of 57 students per thousand.
High Wycombe and Bath closely followed.