How do they get it?
10% of 12-15 yr-old drinkers say they buy their own alcohol.1 63% of 16-17 yr-olds have bought their own booze in pubs, nightclubs and bars.1

What do they drink?
Beer and lager are the most popular drinks among under 18s, with spirits, wine and alcopops also popular.1

Where do they do it?
54% of 11-12 year olds said they drank at home or at someone else's home. 33% of 15 yr-olds drank alcohol in a pub or bar and 26% of 14-yr-olds said they drank at parties with friends.2

How much do they drink?
The mean alcohol consumption over the past week of boys aged 11-13 has shot up from 3.6 units in 1992 to 8.6 units in 2006. Girls in same age group now drink a mean of 7.9 units in a week, up from 3.1 in 1992. For boys aged 15 that figure rises to 13.1 units a week, and 10.5 units a week for girls.3

Why worry?
A survey of underage binge drinkers aged between 14-17 asked the teenagers what problems their binge drinking had led to. Answers included unsafe sex, injury, drug taking, involvement in dangerous driving and problems with the police.4

How much of a problem is it?
A majority of head teachers surveyed in 2004 by the BBC Six-o'clock news believed that alcohol was a bigger problem than drug abuse in their schools.

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• Why schools are flunking their alcohol lessons

Sources:
1. Institute of Alcohol Studies
2. Smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England in 2004, ONS for NHS and Health and Social Care Information Centre.
3. Drug use, smoking and drinking among young people in England in 2005 - NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre, Public Health Statistics, 2006.
4. Underage 'risky' drinking. Joseph Rowntree Foundation 2005.