The student union bar could become an endangered species as university pubs close in increasing numbers to make way for juice bars and gyms. Student unions are responding to dwindling alcohol revenues and legislation that will turn them into independent charities.

Takings at student bars have halved over the past decade to about £25 million last year, and students are reversing a centuries-old tradition of on-campus drinking.

“Takings are down 50 per cent from ten years ago,” said Richard Budden, vice-president of union development at the NUS. “Students are drinking less and being forced to work more.”

At lunchtime in Bristol’s student union bar, all is hushed. Behind the taps, Lottie Kruber, an aeronautical engineering student, hasn’t pulled a pint all shift. “If people come in here they normally order soft drinks,” she says, a folder of work in front of her. On the wall, by far the largest fixture in the room, is a mural advising the venue’s non-existent punters to seek help from FRANK, the alcohol and drugs advisory organisation.

The Epi bar upstairs, once rumoured to be the longest in Britain, is closed, replaced by a popular juice bar. With a turnover of £200,000-a-year, it easily rivals alcohol sales.

“Last time I had a drink was in October,” said Martin Dimitrov, waiting for a debating club meeting. The 22-year-old management student says that he socialises in Starbucks, where he “talks philosophy”.

Anglia Ruskin University has this year turned its bar into a popular gym, with little resistance. “Through the process we consulted students and ran focus groups,” said Lisa Pool, communications officer and vice-president. “I think with the increase in tuition fees students are wanting more from the degree and from the university experience, and are drinking less.”

The lack of revenue has led student unions to seek funding externally, concentrating on volunteering projects to bring in sponsorship from government bodies and business donors. Next year each will have to register as a charity separate from their universities.

Owen Peachey, Bristol union president, said: “The Charities Act has forced people to rethink how they do things.”

With this year’s enrolment expected to leave university with £17,000 of debt, it is unsurprising that most want to fill their CV rather than squander days in a drunken blur.

“We always say, ‘All students come out with a degree. What makes you different?’” said Rachel Miller, community engagement co-ordinator at Bristol. “Because it’s harder to get a job, students are getting involved in societies.”

“Community volunteering is by far and away one of the shining lights of the union,” added Scott Farmer, head of membership and democracy.

Of Bristol’s 18,000 students, 1,000 are registered to volunteer. And more than 660 students help to run a club or society.

Lancaster’s student union has expanded its volunteering programme with money collected from government and corporate sponsorship. Its charitable arm, Lancaster University Volunteers Union (LUVU), has been running for seven years and has 13 full-time staff.

Its activities, which include helping in primary and secondary schools, aiding older people, and providing ICT training in the community, have attracted 550 student volunteers and benefited more than 5,000 school pupils across northwest England. It is confident that its current recruitment levels will increase to 800 by the end of the academic year.

“This year has been our busiest start,” said Ben Webber, head of opportunities at LUVU. “The demand from students actually outstrips the supply of opportunity.”

When students do drink, they don’t take their beer money to the union. The growth of student-friendly bar chains and supermarkets mean unions cannot compete. In Bristol, a pint in the local Wetherspoons is £1.29, a third less than the union. In the local Tesco Metro, beer cans can be less than £1 each.

The controversy over promoter Carnage UK, which organises pub crawls with low-priced alcohol, is snubbed by those who say that many punters are not students at all.

“Carnage takes advantage of not just students but young people in general,” said James Ashton-Bell, a fourth-year politics student who works with residents' groups in Bristol.

He added that students end up being scapegoats for the antics of the city's under-30s. “When you speak to police they say students are not generally responsible.”

Now that welfare is the priority, unions have stopped fighting price wars. This year the NUS suggested introducing a minimum price for alcohol.

Catherine Kernagh, a third-year politics student, does admit to a bit of fun. “I just get drunk in my living room now,” she said. “It’s cheaper.”

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