Are Warwick students unlucky in love?

According to an expert from Edinburgh University, Warwick is at the bottom of the league tables when it comes to finding love.

Students at Warwick University are just 11 per cent likely to find a relationship that lasts past university, compared to the national average of 20 per cent, whilst students at Oxford, which tops the Love League Tables, have a 35 per cent chance of finding love. Of those who do, the percentage of students who marry their partner averages at 47 per cent likely nationally – dropping to 18 per cent if you are female – whilst students of both gender at Oxford have a 79 per cent chance.

The One Day University Love Survey was prompted by the release of the film version of David Nicholl’s One Day, in which Dex and Emma fall in love years after attending Edinburgh University together. The survey found that, despite the commonly held belief that most people find their future spouse at university; this is in fact quite unusual. It is more likely that students will start a successful relationship if they are not together at university and only unite after bumping into each other years after leaving – presumably nostalgia over the sticky Students’ Union is an aphrodisiac.

Unfortunately for Computer Science students, they are the least likely on average to start a relationship with a fellow student whilst at university never mind make it last – with only a 12 per cent chance nationwide. Travel and Tourism students on the other hand – a degree which is not offered at Warwick and perhaps has something to do with our disappointing result – have a whopping 37 per cent possibility of finding the one.

Dr Lars Penke, self-proclaimed relationship expert from Edinburgh University, spoke to Laura Handy on the release of these figures from the One Day University Love League to coincide with the release of the film One Day.

“The most likely romantic partners are those that are around you every day at times when you are looking for a match. Students, exactly in the age when most people look for romance, are fortunate enough that they are surrounded by many potential partners, who on top of that share their educational background and the interest for their study subject, both factors that facilitate a relationship.” He said, adding “of course finding a partner at university is easier when the courses have a more equal gender ratio, which might explain why psychologist and computer scientists don’t fare so well in that regard.”

Most Warwick students, it would seem, are just too practical to fall in love with their fellow students, focusing instead on what can happen when it all goes wrong. Almost every student to whom the Boar spoke had some kind of relationship horror story to share, and, perhaps appropriately with Valentines’ Day around the corner, wanted to remain anonymous.

“This guy and girl were having the most amazingly flirty conversation; […] it was all going so well. 40minutes later when we pull up to humanities she slips ‘yeah my boyfriend really liked it too’. Sucker punch! Was gutted for the bloke… not exactly romance-inspiring!” Clare, an arts student, explains that women are more heartless when it comes to love – or maybe the U1 is just not the best place to pick up girls – thus the difference between female students’ likelihood of marriage compared to their male counterparts.

Most agreed that relationships were “just not worth it at uni,” as people are leaving all the time, going on years abroad, or going home for vacations and re-kindling old school romances instead. Perhaps another reason why girls are less lucky than guys when it comes to this sort of thing is that once you’re past being a fresher, “the boys are too young to date.” Maybe Warwick girls are digging their own graves by going against the University’s modern reputation and holding traditionalist attitudes when it comes to love.