Cooking everything led individually
Seven respondents, or 33%, selected rarely, I cook everything.
Indicative student poll
How often do you eat out or get a takeaway as a student?
Rarely eating out or getting a takeaway was the most selected individual answer at 33%. However, 43% of respondents said they eat out or order takeaway at least once a week.
How did students answer?
Respondents selected one option from four. Percentages are calculated from 21 responses and rounded to whole numbers.
Rarely, I cook everything7 responses
33%Once a week5 responses
24%A couple of times a month5 responses
24%Multiple times a week4 responses
19%What does this result suggest?
Eating habits were spread across the four options, with no single frequency selected by a majority of respondents.
Weekly ordering was common
Five selected once a week and four selected multiple times a week, meaning 43% ordered or ate out at least weekly.
Monthly habits were also visible
Five respondents selected a couple of times a month, equivalent to 24%.
Why this result matters
The result shows a mixed pattern rather than a simple divide between students who cook and students who regularly buy prepared food.
Cooking everything was the biggest individual answer, which may reflect budgeting, dietary preferences, convenience at home or simply a preference for cooking. The poll did not ask why respondents chose their frequency, so those explanations remain possibilities rather than measured reasons.
At the same time, 43% said they eat out or order takeaway at least once a week. That suggests prepared food still forms a regular part of life for a substantial share of this small sample, even though the most popular individual answer was the lowest-frequency option.
When the three eating-out or takeaway options are combined, 67% did so at least a couple of times a month. That combined figure gives useful context, but it should not replace the original four-answer result because it groups different levels of frequency together.
With only 21 respondents, this is an indicative snapshot. A larger food-behaviour study could explore average spend, reasons for ordering, differences between eating out and delivery, and whether habits change around deadlines, weekends or student loan dates.
How to report this finding
“33% of respondents to an indicative Unifresher Instagram poll said they rarely eat out or get a takeaway because they cook everything themselves.”
How was this poll collected?
This was a quick audience poll designed to provide an indicative snapshot from people reached through the Unifresher Instagram audience.
- Exact question
- How often do you eat out or get a takeaway as a student?
- Answer options
- Multiple times a week; Once a week; A couple of times a month; Rarely, I cook everything
- Responses
- 21 total responses. Raw counts are shown alongside every percentage.
- Audience
- People who viewed and responded to the poll through the Unifresher Instagram audience.
- Collection method
- Unifresher Instagram Stories. Respondents selected one of four fixed answer options.
- Calculation
- Percentages were calculated directly from the raw response totals and rounded to whole numbers. No weighting or adjustment was applied.
- Verification
- The four response counts were checked against the stated total of 21 responses before publication.
- Representation
- Indicative audience poll. The result reflects respondents to this Unifresher poll and is not statistically representative of all UK university students.
- Editorial independence
- No commercial partner directed or influenced the question, answer options, analysis or interpretation shown on this page.
- Reuse and licensing
- Published aggregate findings may be quoted with attribution. Contact the Unifresher press team before republishing a full chart, graphic or substantial extract. See Data Hub reuse and citation guidance.
Cite this result
33% of respondents said they rarely eat out or get a takeaway because they cook everything themselves. Source: Unifresher Student Eating Out and Takeaway Frequency Poll, 2026. 21 responses via Instagram Stories, collected 12 August 2026. Indicative poll. unifresher.co.uk/data-hub
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