Across 2025, various surveys and estimates showed that around 48% of adults in the UK gambled at least once a month. In the US that figure stands at around 55%. However, young British students report a higher rate of gambling than the wider population. Around 60% of university students gambled at least once a month in 2025, according to a recent large-scale survey. These numbers have led many UK universities to introduce or enhance their educational tools and support options for students wondering about their gambling activity. 

Changes are gathering pace. In 2026 one major UK university has debuted a toolkit designed by former students that is integrated into the institution’s existing digital infrastructure. As well as providing support, university-led gambling research offers a unique opportunity to further understanding of gambling behaviors from an academic perspective rather than a business one.

Online Betting is Booming in the UK, and Among Students

Brits spent £6.5 billion ($8.9 billion) on online gambling in 2024. By most projections, that market is expected to grow by some 10% to 12% per year over the next five years. In contrast, despite the much bigger population, the US online gambling market was worth around $12.68 billion that year. But, land-based casinos are far bigger a deal in the US than the British Isles. In the US they make around $50 billion a year, while the UK’s physical casinos made £4.6 billion ($6.3 billion).

Interestingly, despite the UK’s National Lottery being by far the most common form of gambling in the UK, a major 2024 student survey showed that the lottery was the least popular form of gambling among British students. But, they otherwise do gamble at a significantly higher rate than the general population.

For the millions of brits who enjoy a casual gamble with well defined limits, finding a gambling operator with all the responsible play options is important. The online casinos on Casino.org UK are all reputable operators licensed by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) – which means all the options for responsible gambling are present as they’re required by regulation. Plus players can use these resources to find basically anything else they might want to know about the UK’s most popular casino sites.

University of Bristol Makes High Profile Moves to Start the Year

Benjamin Parker and Jordan White are two graduates of the University of Bristol in the southwest of England. In 2025 they noticed a rise in gambling among their friends and fellow students, so they decided to start tracking it. This eventually morphed into their joint final year project.

After successfully completing their degree, the student research duo partnered with the University’s start-up accelerator Runway to fund the development of a new toolkit for students. Now in 2026, that has launched across the institution’s digital services.

The initiative involves practical tools to self-assess gambling behavior, tips and tools for managing responsible gambling, signposts to specialist outside support if needed, and a forum slash database where students can discuss their experiences.

They hope that the toolkit will also act as an awareness campaign on the subject, given that it is integrated into the digital student experience. Some 47% of students did not realise most British universities now offer some kind of gambling support system for people with questions or concerns about their play.

Academic Studies of Gambling Behaviors Continue to Grow

Parker and White also designed options for students to voluntarily provide data which can be used for further research. This could prove invaluable as universities across the UK look to understand gambling better.

Academic research can examine gambling from various angles for a more holistic approach to the subject. While gambling operators data is often looked at from a business perspective and policy campaigners often look at problem gambling and harms, newer academic approaches aim to look at things like social contexts, triggers and pattern frequency.

For example, the now annual Student Gambling Survey has been running since 2023. It is one of the most comprehensive reports of its kind. In 2025 the survey looked at 20,000 students across 17 UK universities, providing a broad-scale picture across the spectrum of class and location.

This research can be used to inform student wellbeing strategies with student-led data that understands why students gamble – which can be quite different to the general population. While this kind of institution-student collaborative research is growing in the UK, universities elsewhere have taken a markedly different approach.

What US Universities Offer in Comparison

Across the Atlantic, American colleges and universities are yet to start treating gambling as a standalone wellbeing issue. It is instead often treated as part of other services like addiction or mental health counselling.

This can create somewhat of an all-or-nothing approach where gambling is considered fine, until it becomes a problem and it isn’t. Having a wider conversation with more data and an academic approach to gambling can help young people approach their interest in a way that the harm never happens.

Which is not to say that US universities don’t do any research into gambling. However, it is not very often aimed at student gambling. Or, when it is, it isn’t usually student-led or collaborative but is funded by outside organizations for their own reasons. Such as the 2024 survey by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which was a huge study, but specifically only looked at gambling among student athletes under their purview.