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June 2023 - Education

Just 1% of students who took part in survey said their university was 'very supportive' of their mental health: A survey has revealed that while 86% of current students said they have suffered with poor mental health at university, just 1% said their institution was 'very supportive' in dealing with it. A quarter of students reported that their university was 'supportive' (26%), while 40% said their university was 'unsupportive' or 'very unsupportive' of their mental health.

The survey, which attracted 1,500 responses, was conducted by the Petitions Committee to inform a debate on Monday 5 June 2023 on a proposed statutory duty of care for higher education students.

The survey asked petitioners about their experiences of mental health support at university and their views on the proposed statutory duty of care for students. Respondents were a mix of parents or guardians of past or present university students, current or former university students, friends or relatives of students, or work at a university.

When it came to discussing their mental health, two-thirds of respondents said they would feel 'uncomfortable' or 'very uncomfortable' discussing it with their tutor or academic supervisor (67%).

The survey also asked former students about their experiences, with 63% of current students saying their university does not offer -- or they were not sure if it offered -- a mentoring scheme, rising to 85% of former students. It also found that almost half of the current students polled (47%) said their university does not have -- or they were not sure if it had -- a welfare officer (47%), rising to three-quarters of former students (75%).

Parent findings

The survey also found that 79% of parents or guardians of current or former students said that they 'disagree' or 'strongly disagree' that current mental health support for university students is adequate, with two-thirds also saying that their child has not felt supported with their mental health.

More than three-quarters of parents of current university students said their child had been, or is now suffering with mental health difficulties, however 91% said they had not been contacted by the university. Almost nine in 10 (88%) said they would expect to be contacted if their child was having mental health difficulties at university.

Asking current and former students about having the university contact their parents, 59% of current students said they were never given the option of a 'trusted contact' when they began studying, rising to 79% of former students.

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