Alcohol misuse affects learning in school and university students: a role for biological education

In the first instance, we usually tend to associate learning difficulties or sub-optimal academic achievement with psychological or neurological disturbances. However, cognition and learning are also influenced by addiction. Excessive alcohol consumption and alcohol dependence is common in adolescents, alongside other addictions involving nicotine and cannabis, with smoking and vaping being common (National Institute for Drug Abuse, 2022). Data from the UK National Health Service (NHS) indicates that the percentage of students consuming alcohol, as well as the proportion of those drinking it at least once per week, both increase greatly from the age of 11 to 15 (‘Part 5’, Citation2024). Excessive alcohol consumption is also common amongst UK university students (Tarrant et al. Citation2019), as many seem to believe that if they don’t drink alcohol, they will struggle to make friends (Gambles et al. Citation2022).

Indeed, alcohol misuse amongst school and university students is a worldwide problem, and has been shown to negatively impact academic performance in university students (El Ansari, Stock, and Mills Citation2013) and high school students (Balsa, Giuliano, and French Citation2011).

So, how does it have this impact, and how can we, as biology educators, ensure that our students receive effective alcohol education and support?