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Nearly a third of British Muslim students polled in a new report to be published on Monday said that killing in the name of religion could be justified.

The report by the London-based Center for Social Cohesion (CfSC), entitled "Islam on Campus: A Survey of UK Student Opinion," showed that 32 percent of Muslim students said killing in the name of religion could be justified, while 60% of active members of on-campus Islamic societies said the same. Only 2% of non-Muslims polled felt this way.

Based on a specially commissioned YouGov poll of 1,400 students as well as on field work and interviews, the report showed that most Muslim students supported secularism and democratic values, were generally tolerant of other minorities and rejected violence in the name of their faith. However, the report also revealed high levels of support for the adoption of Sharia law into British law and for a worldwide caliphate.

Forty percent of Muslim students polled supported the introduction of Sharia into British law for Muslims, and a third supported the introduction of a worldwide caliphate based on Sharia law; 58% of active members of Islamic societies supported the idea.

In addition, 43% of Muslim students said Islam was compatible with secularism.

"These findings are deeply alarming," said CfSC researcher Hannah Stuart, one of the report's authors. "Students in higher education are the future leaders of their communities. Yet significant numbers of them appear to hold beliefs which contravene liberal, democratic values. In addition, there are signs of growing religious segregation on campus. These results are deeply embarrassing for those who have said that there is no extremism in British universities."