Male science students are a university's most likely virgins while females who study arts subjects are the most sexually active, Australian researchers say.

A pilot study conducted at the University of Sydney saw 185 students, aged 16 to 25, quizzed on their sexual history and awareness of the sexually transmitted disease chlamydia.

It found arts students were "younger, more likely to be sexually active and to report having little or no knowledge of chlamydia".