The invisible problem? Improving students’ mental health

Poor staffing ratios are also present within university support
services. Based on the assumptions that universities see on
average 12 per cent of the student population, one full-time
counsellor sees five students a day for 50 minutes and each
student tends to have four sessions, universities require a
student-to-counsellor ratio of around 1:1,358. (This is for a 26-
week year; the ratio required rises to around 1:2,291 for a 44-
week year.) The current average of UK university counsellor to
student ratio is roughly 1:5,000, three-to-four times lower. 65
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