Student Space is live! What is it, and what comes next?

Today we are proud to launch the Student Space platform, developed to support students in navigating university life during the coronavirus pandemic.

With A-Level results day (Thursday 13 August) marking a challenging turning point in a student’s academic calendar, the new programme will provide a raft of support designed specifically for students, at all stages of their higher education journey. 

The Universities Minister announced at the end of June that Student Minds would oversee the 6-month programme, which is funded by the Office for Students (OfS) and Higher Education Funding Council Wales (HefCW). It’s fair to say that the last seven weeks have flown by! We’re delighted that thanks to an immense amount of collaboration, plenty of hard work and much creative problem solving, the web platform is now live and available to each of the 2.3 million students studying on a Higher Education programme across England and Wales.

What’s currently on Student Space?
Student Space is here to make it easier for students to find the support that they need during the coronavirus pandemic, featuring trusted information, online tools and resources to support students wherever they are with their wellbeing and studies. Explore the site for guidance on learning online, handling bereavement and making friends remotely - provided in both English and Welsh. You can access the services we have commissioned for students who may be feeling overwhelmed or distressed, including a helpline and text support as well as a directory signposting students to services at their place of study. These resources will grow and be enhanced to meet emerging student needs in the months ahead.

Thank you to all of our collaborators
Student Space is the result of a lot of hard work and collaboration between a number of organisations over the last few weeks. We’d like to express our gratitude to the hundreds of people that have already engaged with us on this programme and played their part in helping us get here. While there are too many people to thank individually, we’d like to thank our core partners, without whom we would not have delivered this significant milestone. Thank you to: 

• Every student that has participated in user testing or developed content, along with our student advisory committee for encouraging us to be ambitious for students.
• The variety of experts across Higher Education, Health, Research, and Digital who have joined our Programme Advisory Group and Independent Governance Group.
• The network of clinicians and professionals working with us to create a pipeline of relevant and inclusive psychoeducation.
• The programme funders - OfS and HefCW - for investing in student mental health.
• Student Space’s first commissioned service partners - Shout and The Mix - and the AMOSSHE network for helping to build the first directory of university student services.
• Our talented digital partners at William Joseph and Baringa.
• And last but not least, please indulge us a moment to be proud and thankful to the team at Student Minds. 

So, what comes next?
We now move into the next exciting phase for Student Space. In the next few weeks we will develop more content and commission additional services based on listening to students and higher education communities.We will also launch a quality-assured section of the platform, curating even more support options into one place. 

If you’re at an organisation that already provides useful, safe and relevant services for students, or are interested in being commissioned to deliver inclusive support that is responsive to the diverse needs and experiences of the student community, do keep your eyes peeled for our commissioning and quality assurance call in the next few weeks. 

Finally, as well as working hard along with our growing network of partners to promote Student Space, we’ll start sharing more data and insights outwards with the wider sector and community so we can all learn together. 

What can you do to help?
We’d really appreciate your help to spread the word about Student Space in the coming weeks and months. 

One person can be the difference in a student’s life. Whether you’re a student with a friend who’s having a hard time, a parent who realises their child is nervous about going back to campus, or an academic or educator aiming to support your year group, we hope that you’ll find Student Space to be a valuable resource.

We’re really proud of what we’ve achieved together so far, but there’s much more to come - so please do sign up for regular email updates to share in the exciting developments.

To access Student Space visit studentspace.org.uk and find more FAQ’s on Student Space.

Also, find our Welsh translation of this news piece.