Life in a Pandemic - 'One Year On'

Today, we are celebrating one year since we launched the report ‘University Mental Health: Life in a Pandemic’. The report explored students’ experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic and considered all aspects of students' lives; their living arrangements, academic experience, social connectedness, access to support and mental wellbeing. A reminder of our key findings: 
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• 74% of students said the pandemic had negatively impacted their mental health
• 49% of students said the pandemic had negatively impacted their financial situation
• Two thirds of students said they had ‘often felt isolated or lonely’ since March 2020 

Reflecting on the year since, we recognise that lots has changed. We have seen the removal of all restrictions related to Covid, a widespread return to on-campus teaching and learning, and growing uncertainty in other areas such as the cost of living crisis. Whilst some of the challenges we saw in 2020/2021 have been mitigated, others have been exacerbated and students continue to be disproportionately impacted. 

In August 2021, we made a series of recommendations which we hoped would help to ensure students received increased support for their mental health and wellbeing. Whilst reviewing these recommendations alongside our more recent research findings, we have identified three key areas where students continue to need additional support: finances, social connectedness, and challenging transitions. 

We are therefore now recommending that the Government: 

• Urgently intervenes to stabilise and lower energy bills and the energy price cap.
• Ensures any policy measures designed to provide support for the rising cost of living are developed with students in mind, ensuring they are not disadvantaged by their student status, such as with the recent council tax rebate.
• Revises policy relating to maintenance loans, bringing them in-line with inflation rates and ensuring students do not face real-term cuts to their support. 
• Provides additional hardship funding to be distributed via universities for the most impacted groups. 

 
In addition, we are recommending that universities and students’ unions: 
 

• Take extra steps to ensure students feel supported to build social connections. This includes offering a range of accessible activities during induction periods, promoting and supporting student-led groups to run activities, and providing additional funding to support the development and facilitation of accessible social spaces, particularly for those from marginalised groups.
• Focus on supporting students through key transition periods, by co-producing resources, interventions and activities with students to understand their needs and concerns. This includes undertaking listening activities to best understand students’ preferences at a local level. Transition support should not only exist for new students, but also for students progressing into another academic year or level; for students who are transitioning from online to in-person learning and assessment; and for students who are new to a fully ‘on-campus’ experience. 

 
 
Our hope is that, with this additional support, students can enjoy their university experience without facing the additional stressors of financial hardship, loneliness, uncertainty and a lack of belonging. Without this support, we know that students’ experiences will suffer and their mental health will be at risk.