26 BACK TO THEMES U NITE STUDENTS | APPLICANT INDEX REPORT | 2023 SUSTAINABILITY 67 The Sustainability score measures the strength of feeling about climate change together with personal commitment to living sustainably. This theme score is the only one to have decreased compared to 2022, which is perhaps surprising given that Generation Z are popularly believed to be passionate about climate change. There have been small drops in score against three of the questions within this theme. The exception is that applicants are somewhat more careful about use of electricity and water than last year. This is likely to be due to the cost of living on families and parental pressure to minimise utility costs. Female applicants score four points higher than male applicants with positive differences across all questions and are much more likely to think that tackling climate change is extremely important. In line with last year’s results, LGBTQ+ applicants score more highly, as do applicants with a mental health condition. I recycle I have made sacrifices so that I can live more sustainably I am careful about my use of electricity and water It is extremely important to address climate change Figure 17 : Breakdown of responses to sustainability theme questions THEMATIC ANALYSIS - SUSTAINABILITY 0% 100% 80% 50% 20% 90% 60% 30% 70% 40% 10% ■ Strong disagreement ■ Moderate disagreement ■ Neutral ■ Moderate agreement ■ Strong agreement -1 from 2022