Shocking initiation rituals at UK universities

A secretly-filmed BBC video shows students taking part in a bizarre initiation rite, wearing bags over their heads, drinking and vomiting.

The University of Gloucestershire says it will launch a formal inquiry into alleged "bullying and intimidation" during initiation ceremonies after the BBC obtained the shocking footage

The video obtained by the BBC shows a group of University of Gloucestershire students lined up against a wall with white plastic bags over their heads. Another student, dressed in a Nazi-style uniform, is seen to encourage them to drink. Several students then vomit onto the ground before being paraded though the streets.

University of Gloucestershire students told the BBC that during the ceremonies, first-year students are made to do "anything you are told" by the senior students. One, 20-year-old Natalie Sutton, said that during her hockey initiation ceremony she was forced to put fish in her bra and then eat it. She added: "I had to go to the toilet in a bucket in a dark basement, which was full of other people's urine. People were crying and vomiting."

Another, Nick Levy, said that during his ceremony he was told to drink excessively and then run naked through Cheltenham. He added: "We had to put matches in private, inappropriate areas and set them on fire whilst drinking more beer. I did it to be accepted by the older guys at the time. It was a bit tormenting, but if you didn't do it you would get called a wuss".

NUS President Wes Streeting told BBC News: "We are totally opposed to student initiations. They put students at serious risk and exclude students who don't want to take part in that binge-drinking culture."