The UK’s student mental health charity.
No student should be held back by their mental health.
At Student Minds, we challenge the higher education sector, health sector, and government to work with students when making decisions that impact them, and make them accountable for prioritising student mental health. In collaboration with students, we show sector professionals what effective student mental health looks like, and bridge the gap between students and the communities around them to ensure their voices are always heard.
By creating and curating resources, stories and tools, we empower students to build their own mental health toolkit to support themselves and their peers through university life and beyond. We want to empower and inspire students to use their voice to share their stories and advocate for themselves.
With academic pressure, money worries and loneliness, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed at university, but the needs of students are too often overlooked. Together, we’re improving university communities so that every student gets the mental health support they need to reach their goals.
Find out more about our work by reading our strategy or learning more about our impact.
At Student Minds, we challenge the higher education sector, health sector, and government to work with students when making decisions that impact them, and make them accountable for prioritising student mental health. In collaboration with students, we show sector professionals what effective student mental health looks like, and bridge the gap between students and the communities around them to ensure their voices are always heard.
By creating and curating resources, stories and tools, we empower students to build their own mental health toolkit to support themselves and their peers through university life and beyond. We want to empower and inspire students to use their voice to share their stories and advocate for themselves.
With academic pressure, money worries and loneliness, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed at university, but the needs of students are too often overlooked. Together, we’re improving university communities so that every student gets the mental health support they need to reach their goals.
Find out more about our work by reading our strategy or learning more about our impact.
Our history
Student Minds (formerly Student Run Self Help) was started in 2009 following the success of our first student - led support group for students experiencing mental health difficulties at university. Having experienced her own mental health difficulties at university, Dr Nicola Byrom set up the organisation aiming to make it easier for students with an eating disorder to access support. The first groups, run by trained student volunteers, were founded on the principles that everyone deserves easy access to support, and that talking to others can really aid the recovery process.
In 2013, the charity re-branded as Student Minds and merged with Mental Wealth UK, a network of student-led campaign groups, helping students to become more aware of the importance of mental wellbeing and to encourage conversations about mental health.
Since then, we have published the University Mental Health Charter in 2019, set up the Charter Programme encouraging universities to commit to using a whole-university approach to mental health and wellbeing, and launched Student Space, our dedicated student support programme in 2020. We have also continued to grow our network of trainers, showing students how to create their own toolkits and empowering them to support their peers and teammates whilst also looking after their own mental health.
Student Minds has grown significantly over the years, supporting students through the uncertainties of student life and working with all members of the university community to promote positive mental health and wellbeing.
In 2013, the charity re-branded as Student Minds and merged with Mental Wealth UK, a network of student-led campaign groups, helping students to become more aware of the importance of mental wellbeing and to encourage conversations about mental health.
Since then, we have published the University Mental Health Charter in 2019, set up the Charter Programme encouraging universities to commit to using a whole-university approach to mental health and wellbeing, and launched Student Space, our dedicated student support programme in 2020. We have also continued to grow our network of trainers, showing students how to create their own toolkits and empowering them to support their peers and teammates whilst also looking after their own mental health.
Student Minds has grown significantly over the years, supporting students through the uncertainties of student life and working with all members of the university community to promote positive mental health and wellbeing.
Our strategic priorities
We have a clear vision: No student should be held back by their mental health. Our mission is to improve university communities so that every student gets the mental health support they need to reach their goals.
Our 10-year strategy focuses our commitments to two key areas:
Explore our 10-year strategy
Our 10-year strategy focuses our commitments to two key areas:
- Continue driving positive change for students - We’ll keep working with students, the higher education sector, health sector, and government to make student mental health a priority, and we’ll continue empowering students to look after their own mental health.
- Ensuring that positive change lasts - We’ll focus on preventative, sustainable, long-term changes that will benefit future generations, as well as the students of today.
Explore our 10-year strategy
Why do we focus on student mental health and the university community?
Nearly 50% of young people enter higher education and around one in four students report having a diagnosed mental health issue while at university. Students have faced a lot of uncertainty in the past few years. Academic pressures, loneliness, and money worries have only made life more tough for them. We know that students experience lower wellbeing than young adults as a whole (Institute for Public Policy Research, 2017) so we are here to support them.
Many lifestyle pressures of being a student can result in irregular sleeping patterns, poor diet, lack of exercise and alcohol consumption, which are all risk factors for developing mental illness. The median age of Higher Education students overlaps the peak age of onset, with 75% of all mental health difficulties developing by mid-20s (RCPsych, 2011), though of course not all students are young and many mature students face the triple pressure of student life, working and supporting a family.
Academic performance is a leading cause of stress, with 28% of students having considered withdrawing from or leaving university all together (HEPI, 2023). Money and finances also impact students greatly, with 60% saying their financial situation is negatively affecting their wellbeing and 56% having to cut back on socialising due to the cost of living (Student Minds & Alterline, 2022).
There are substantial barriers preventing students from getting the support that they need. One quarter of students don’t know where to get mental health support at university. Both universities and the NHS are struggling to meet demand with insufficient resources leading to long waiting times. Health inequalities also further prevent students from receiving support, Black and Asian students are the least likely demographic to seek advice about poor mental health (Cibyl, 2022).
It doesn’t need to be like this. We think that all students and members of the university community should be able to thrive at university. Effective early- intervention, building health literacy and other preventative approaches, as well as providing ongoing support for both those with and those supporting someone with mental health difficulties could improve the futures of millions of people.
We hope you’ll join us. Together, we can ensure no student is held back by their mental health.
Many lifestyle pressures of being a student can result in irregular sleeping patterns, poor diet, lack of exercise and alcohol consumption, which are all risk factors for developing mental illness. The median age of Higher Education students overlaps the peak age of onset, with 75% of all mental health difficulties developing by mid-20s (RCPsych, 2011), though of course not all students are young and many mature students face the triple pressure of student life, working and supporting a family.
Academic performance is a leading cause of stress, with 28% of students having considered withdrawing from or leaving university all together (HEPI, 2023). Money and finances also impact students greatly, with 60% saying their financial situation is negatively affecting their wellbeing and 56% having to cut back on socialising due to the cost of living (Student Minds & Alterline, 2022).
There are substantial barriers preventing students from getting the support that they need. One quarter of students don’t know where to get mental health support at university. Both universities and the NHS are struggling to meet demand with insufficient resources leading to long waiting times. Health inequalities also further prevent students from receiving support, Black and Asian students are the least likely demographic to seek advice about poor mental health (Cibyl, 2022).
It doesn’t need to be like this. We think that all students and members of the university community should be able to thrive at university. Effective early- intervention, building health literacy and other preventative approaches, as well as providing ongoing support for both those with and those supporting someone with mental health difficulties could improve the futures of millions of people.
We hope you’ll join us. Together, we can ensure no student is held back by their mental health.
