Students spend an estimated �940m on drinks each year

One in two men admitted being hung-over in their first week while one in four men felt there was also too much pressure on them to "pull".

The survey, by Cambridge's student magazine Varsity, found nearly one in three freshers admitted feeling lonely.

Only one in 12 questioned felt under too much pressure to work.

Illness and depression

Wes Streeting, president of Cambridge University Student Union, said some results were surprising.

"I think part of the culture of Freshers' Week does revolve around drinking and socialising and having fun, but students shouldn't feel under any pressure," he said.

"We had a range of events going on during Freshers' Week at the central student union and at the college student unions and there were non-drinking events too."

The survey, which was carried out for the first time this year, also found nearly a fifth of new students had suffered from an illness during the first few days.