One pupil in 20 `has sex with a teacher'

ONE SCHOOL leaver in 20 claims to have had a sexual relationship with a teacher and nearly half fantasised about them, says a survey published today, as ministers work on legislation to make affairs between pupils and teachers a criminal offence

The researchers made the survey of 800 school leavers aged 17 to 22 in eight cities, for a Channel 5 soap opera in which a 15-year-old boy has a relationship with a female English teacher. They found big variations in the number of teenagers saying they have had relationships, from 10 per cent in Glasgow to only 1 per cent in Birmingham.

In Liverpool, the figure was 8 per cent, in London 7 per cent, in Manchester 5 per cent, Aberdeen 4 per cent, Newcastle 3 per cent and Bristol 2 per cent.

Those in Newcastle were most likely to have fantasised about a relationship: 65 per cent had done so compared with a national average of 47.5.

Nationally only 3 per cent said they had fantasised about a teacher of the same gender. Glasgow and Bristol were the cities with the highest number of same-gender crushes.

A spokesman for the programme said: "When were were writing these storylines we never imagined that they would reflect real life to such an extent."