Sex can cause teenagers can lose focus on their studies, new research has found (file photo) Teenagers who have sex before GCSE age are less likely to go to university, say researchers.
The students 'grow up too quickly' as a result and want to stop studying, according to a major new study.
The findings reveal both boys and girls think they are more adult after losing their virginity, and this alters their ambitions.
The six-year Glasgow University study of 5,000 students investigated the 'negative effects' of early sex on youngsters' plans for further education.
It comes after international research revealed that early sex doubled the chances of girls developing cervical cancer.
The latest study, published in the Journal of Adolescence, involved asking boys and girls aged between 14 and 18 if they intended staying on at school, and their aspirations were then compared with the numbers who actually did so.
Altogether, 39 per cent of those who had - in the words of researchers - 'gone all the way' by the age of 16 did not go on to further education, compared to 24 per cent of virgins.
Research leader Alison Parkes said those who had sex at that age were more likely to spend more and have a boy or girlfriend, 'which may both act as precursors to early transition to adulthood'.
source: dailymail