The invisible problem? Improving students’ mental health

ecently completed counselling with an in-house university
or college counselling service at 65 UK higher and further
education institutions showed:
••
81 per cent thought counselling had helped them stay in
higher education;
••
79 per cent thought it helped them do better in their
academic work; and
••
78 per cent thought it had helped them develop skills useful
for obtaining employment. 13
Although universities and the NHS have a dual responsibility
for providing mental health support, the same study also
showed that improvement rates in university counselling
services are higher than in NHS primary care counselling. The
average proportion of patients showing clinical improvement
– reflecting an improved score on a standardised measure of
mental illness – was 71 per cent against an average of 75 per
cent for university counselling services. 14 Average waiting times
between referral and first appointments are also longer in NHS
primary care services: 84 days versus 16 days at universities.
Awareness of how to contact an institution’s counselling services
is also fairly high, although there is room for improvement. The
2016 HEPI / HEA Student Academic Experience Survey found that
68 per cent of students know how to contact such services. 15
Higher education has always proved a challenging time for
some students. A book published over half a century ago,
based on detailed surveys and interviews with students from
www.hepi.ac.uk 13