It’s no secret that the UK is facing severe strain on its mental health services, and students are missing out on care. Many students struggling with their mental health could wait an academic year to receive help from university counselling services, and others are only allowed six sessions for their degree.
A recent study from the House of Commons Petition Committee ran an online survey to inform a debate on Monday 5th June 2023 on a proposed statutory duty of care for higher education. The survey asked petitioners about their experiences of mental health support at university and their views on introducing a statutory duty of care for higher education students. This follows widespread coverage of a number of student suicides in recent years.
86% of current students said they had suffered with poor mental health at university with 67% saying they’d feel ‘uncomfortable’ or ‘very uncomfortable’ discussing their mental health with their academic supervisor or tutor.
A former student said: “Former student: “A lot could be done as prevention rather than cure, in terms of providing regular structure and support: 1 on 1 pastoral support sessions and academic coaching, to help students manage workload and prioritise, support independent learning and refer on to more specialised counselling services as needed.
“In my experience, no pastoral support was given as academic tutors were very variable in their willingness/ability to coach effectively or offer pastoral support. Every student needs access to regular support to help maintain positive mental health and a net of support (which is adequate and not oversubscribed) to help effectively with any issues in mental health.”
Parents who took part in the survey criticised UK universities for failing to contact them when their child was struggling with their mental health. Others said that their concerns weren’t escalated when raised with their child’s university.
Parent: “I contacted the university to say my son was struggling and they said they could only address the situation if he contacted them. When a person is in a bad or low place they are not likely to contact someone […] It would make far more sense that the default position is that parents can discuss their children and there should be an opt out by the student if they do not wish this to be the situation.”
One parent said: “Parent: “I am concerned that there is no duty of care to inform parents if my child is struggling. There are too many stories of kids who self-harm or take their lives without parents being fully in the picture.”
Just 1% of students who took part in the study said their university was ‘very supportive’ of their mental health.
A student commented: “A lot of students feel discouraged to opt into the current university services because the waiting lists are so long, and most universities only provide a maximum of 5 counselling sessions a year. This simply isn’t enough and many of the staff who work in the student support departments also believe that this should change […] I still am on a 6+ month waiting list for the 5 counselling sessions my university offers.”
One parent said: “Missing lectures is not picked up on as an issue, which in a lot of cases is due to mental health.”
Another said: “My son did not attend lectures for a whole term due to mental health issues and no one noticed or cared. It was a fellow student who encouraged him to tell us what was going on and to contact student welfare.”
In the UK, the charity Mind is available on 0300 123 3393 and Childline on 0800 1111.
Access further resources here.
