A typical freshers’ week experience involves a sweaty nightclub, a greasy kebab and a raging hangover in a lecture hall.

But this year more universities than ever are catering to first-time students who want to ditch the booze altogether and go sober. 

Instead they are offering hummus societies, sober spa evenings and macrame craft nights to entertain students as they get to know each other at the start of term.

The University of Manchester has put on a bunch of alcohol-free options including beatboxing classes and technical theatre training.

And the University of Edinburgh has a schedule that includes yoga classes and screenings of Disney films.

But perhaps the biggest selection of sober activities comes from the University of Bristol, which is holding 101 teetotal events, including drum and bass boxing and meditation classes.

A survey by Drinkaware found that 21 per cent of 18-to-24-year-olds were teetotal, up from 14 per cent in 2017. The proportion of non-drinkers in that group was the highest of any age group, with just 13 per cent of over-25s saying they do not drink.

And although young people still binge drink, they do it less than they used to, with fewer than three-quarters of Gen Z-ers surveyed in 2023 reporting binge drinking at least once in the past year, down from 82 per cent in 2017.

In a bid to meet changing student behaviour, universities have been doing more than sober events during freshers week.

The University of Bradford has completely transformed one of its student union bars into an alcohol-free social space that serves hot drinks, bubble tea, mocktails and smoothies.

A university spokesperson said student life was ‘quite different to years ago’ and it had ‘acted on what students wanted in order to be more inclusive’. 

Although it has ditched the pints and pitchers, the venue still features many traditional bar features, including large TV screens for watching sports, a dancefloor, darts, pool and shuffleboard.

Aleem Bashir, chief executive of University of Bradford Union of Students, said students were feeling the cost of living crisis and had less money to spend on going out.

He told the BBC: ‘A lot of students now have part-time jobs, some may have multiple jobs. When you have to wake up early morning for a shift you can’t be going in there hungover,’ he said.

‘It’s about diversifying the offering for students now and just making the options of non-alcoholic drinks available to them.’

Gen Z-ers grew up in the age of social media apps which have become packed with influencers promoting healthy lifestyles based on exercise and diet. 

Other factors turning them away from alcohol include an increased awareness of health risks, the impact of social media and hangover-induced anxiety dubbed ‘hangxiety’. 

Bars and breweries have been meeting the rising demand for sober options by swapping out the once-watery cans of lager for more premium and well-made alcohol-free drinks.

But ultimately the decision to stop drinking is down to the individual, and in true Gen Z style, dozens of young people have been taking to social media to discuss why they decided to go sober. 

Elysia Sanders, a third-year student at Durham University who completed her second year sober, gave advice to younger students who would be going to university for the first time.

She said: ‘I’m in my third year now, I’ve had a lot of time to reflect. The first thing I’d do is I’d care a lot less about what people thought about how much alcohol I drink.

‘I just came off the back of a post A Level summer where I didn’t drink anything… I came to university and thought, “everybody is going to think I’m weird if I don’t drink”… but do whatever you need to do to have fun.’

She added: ‘Particularly if you’re up front about it and not trying to come up with excuses for it.

The Accommodation for Students’ TikTok account featured a student at the University of Edinburgh who posted a guide for students looking to do freshers week sober. 

She said: ‘I did my entire freshers week sober and still had a great time. If you do decide to go out it’s totally okay not to drink and you’ll be surprised by the amount of people who are in exactly the same boat as you. 

‘The most important thing is just to be yourself whether that involves drinking or not.’

She also gave students ideas for alternative activities other than drinking, such as signing up for societies, exploring the city and looking around the university. 

Ellie Hanson, 25, said she has been sober for one year after she gave it up after being unwell on a big night out with her friends.

‘I’ve always had a really strange relationship with alcohol. In uni I was a proper binge drinker, I was the last one awake to all hours of the morning, I didn’t like who I’d become. 

‘Over time alcohol became part of my personality, I was making decisions that I wouldn’t have made sober which were putting me at risk, putting my friends in awkward situations, causing arguments, causing a lot of drama. 

‘There was never that much positive that came out of the end of a night out for me personally. 

‘I also always felt like the next day I was a bit of a laughing stock because I done something that was stupid. And it is still brought up to this day the things I did and I cringe.

Millie Gooch, 31, stopped drinking when she was 26 because of mental health reasons. 

She said she still wanted to do fun things so she started Sober Girl Society, which was where other sober women can meet up to do things while sober.

The club is now the largest community for sober and sober curious women in the UK.

Elsewhere content creator Freya explained the university choice she thought is the best for sober students.

She said: ‘Loughborough is probably one of the better universities to go to if you don’t drink… I know that in freshers’ week, my halls had a whole freshers’ schedule for sober activities.

‘There is so much to do that doesn’t involve drinking, I’m involved in multiple societies where we do stuff that doesn’t involve drinking… there is definitely a lot to get involved in.’

TikTok user Tatty Lomas said she has been sober for 600 days and she says her generation are consuming less alcohol than their parents due to mental health.

She said: ‘I think drinking is so ingrained in British culture that we are the first generation to think “wait a minute I don’t actually enjoy so why am I doing it? I is actually affecting me really negatively”.’