Survey: Students don’t have a clue about life skills

More than half have never lived away from home and will be cutting the apron strings for the first time.

There could also be some campus fashion disasters as 20 per cent of new students have never washed their own clothes and 13 per cent have never done their own ironing.

The research also suggests that universities could benefit from offering crash courses in cooking as more than one in ten freshers claim they don’t know how to cook and 14 per cent have never even boiled an egg.

Cleaning could also pose a dilemma as one in five of new students have never cleaned a bath or shower before leaving home. Almost one in ten have only ever used a dishwasher to clean the dishes.

On a more serious note, the supermarket bank warns that more than a quarter of freshers have never budgeted for themselves and seven per cent have never set up a bank account with 18% never having opened a savings account.

New students may encounter a financial headache trying to get to grips with their budgeting, as more than two-thirds of new students have never paid a utility bill and 68 per cent have never paid rent before.

Natasha Virtue of Sainsbury’s Finance said: “Living alone for the first time with the responsibility for studying, managing finances and making new friends can be a daunting prospect.

“We’d urge students to take time to think about their finances, there are lots of helpful tools online for example on the UCAS web site itself. Better figure out how to boil that egg too.”