Student Voices
We believe that those with lived experience of mental health difficulties - the ones receiving, seeking or in need of support - are experts by experience, and therefore should be active participants and partners in shaping a whole university approach to mental health and wellbeing at their institution.
Since 2016 Universities UK (UUK) have been working with organisations across the education and health sectors to develop a national programme encouraging a whole-university approach to mental health and wellbeing. Student Minds has been a member of the ‘Mental Health in Higher Education’ working group, in addition to being a key delivery partner.
In September 20187 we launched our Student Voices report to accompany UUK’s #StepChange framework in order to profile students’ experiences and suggestions. The report draws upon discussions from our Student Voice Forum, a small scale student engagement activity facilitated by Student Minds, with support from the NUS, and the findings from The University Mental Health: Student Perspectives Questionnaire.
Thank all the students who took part in the forum and questionnaire.
Since 2016 Universities UK (UUK) have been working with organisations across the education and health sectors to develop a national programme encouraging a whole-university approach to mental health and wellbeing. Student Minds has been a member of the ‘Mental Health in Higher Education’ working group, in addition to being a key delivery partner.
In September 20187 we launched our Student Voices report to accompany UUK’s #StepChange framework in order to profile students’ experiences and suggestions. The report draws upon discussions from our Student Voice Forum, a small scale student engagement activity facilitated by Student Minds, with support from the NUS, and the findings from The University Mental Health: Student Perspectives Questionnaire.
Thank all the students who took part in the forum and questionnaire.
Key themes:
The report summarises students’ perspectives on:
We are happy to see a number of these themes reflected in the IPPR report Not by Degrees: Improving student mental health in the UK’s universities and the Universities UK #StepChange framework.
We will continue to advocate for student voices as crucial to steering the state of mental health at our universities.
The report summarises students’ perspectives on:
- The value of talking about mental health - to reduce stigma, encourage support seeking and be a source of support itself.
- Mental health literacy. Participants recognised the need for students and staff to have more support to build mental health literacy.
- Prevention - and how this could come about through support and information, in addition to changes to the university environment.
- Academic experience - including the role of academic tutors, the need to clearly manage student expectation and communication, and ‘reasonable adjustments’.
- Expectations and experiences of support provision - including the value of a less disjointed service, which clearly communicates its links with the NHS to users. Students want a range of support options.
- Advocacy and coordination of care. Students identified a need for support when navigating university systems for their mental health.
- Barriers to support. The primary concern was limited service provision, students also discussed the factors that may prevent students from seeking support, and suggested improvements in the university environment.
- University experience. Students value their universities acknowledging the challenges of managing a degree whilst experiencing mental health difficulties.
- Universities as a space for growth. Students recognised the value of university as a place to thrive, grow and build skills. It is apparent that this happens best when their wellbeing and mental health is viewed by the institution as central to their university experience.
We are happy to see a number of these themes reflected in the IPPR report Not by Degrees: Improving student mental health in the UK’s universities and the Universities UK #StepChange framework.
We will continue to advocate for student voices as crucial to steering the state of mental health at our universities.
