University is known for its excessive drinking culture, but this is not a healthy habit to normalise. Binge drinking (BD) is consuming above 6 units of alcohol in one sitting for women, and 8 for men (ONS, 2015). Students are regularly drinking above this amount, often without realising the number of units they consume constitute as BD. This qualitative research used semi-structured interviews to investigate the BD of six University of Lincoln students. It aimed to discover not only the reasons why students engage in BD, but to explore the experiences of students during BD. This study found that BD was a large part of the ‘university experience’ and one of the main reasons students engaged in it was to socialise. They did not know how else to make friends once arriving at university, and as everyone else around them was excessively drinking, they did it as well. A key component of university societies was also BD, and students expected this type of behaviour when joining one and thought if they did not also drink, they would struggle to fit in. The university itself was reported to encourage alcohol orientated events without providing clear support or information on BD. This led to a lot of students not understanding BD or not knowing where they could get support. The female experience while BD was the most concerning finding, as women face levels of harassment and violence on nights out. They expect to be made uncomfortable by men and so, when something does happen, they do not feel like their experience is anything out of the ordinary. The normalisation of this behaviour has created a toxic and unsafe environment for female students. This has highlighted the need for the university to do more to protect its students and educate on the dangers of BD.
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