With suicide being the biggest killer of under 35s in the UK and following a series of high-profile student suicides during the pandemic, the mental health charity HUMEN reveals that many university students have inadequate access to essential mental health services in the UK’s first ever University Mental Health League Table. Last week the UK government announced £3m in funding for student university mental health services, however HUMEN is critical of the measures for being only 1% of the figure needed to fully address the issue.
Strengthening the existing university league tables, HUMEN, in partnership with Advance Pro Bono and GrapeData, has produced the first ever comprehensive University Mental Health League Table, covering every university across the UK with 10,000 students or more. While universities accumulate an annual income of nearly £2 billion, and students pay tuition fees over £9,000 per year, HUMEN’s new league table reveals a troubling lack of mental health support for students in UK universities.
Several universities are providing effective mental health care for their students, including the University of Reading (1st) which tops the table, however respected universities such as the University of Birmingham (80th), the University of Newcastle (76th) and the University of Nottingham (73rd) are ranked in the bottom ten out of eighty universities despite reputation for excellence.
HUMEN’s research reveals only 4% of staff have received adequate training through Mental Health First Aid England’s course, which is funded by the government and recommended by the charity. HUMEN advocates for all university staff with a pastoral or welfare role to enrol in Mental Health First Aid England’s (MHFE) training course. MHFE is a government endorsed and funded organisation, and by enrolling staff, universities will improve and help standardise mental health support for students across the UK.
HUMEN’s University Mental Health League Table scores universities on five key criteria to give a score out of 100, covering student satisfaction with mental health services, student engagement, awareness and access to mental health programmes, university mental health budgets and staff training (NB HUMEN scores are asterisked).
HUMEN’s research reveals that many universities are allocating measly mental health budgets, and the government’s intervention of £3M is unlikely to address the issue when there are 2.66M students in higher education, which equates to slightly over £1 per student.
UNIVERSITIES PROVIDING EFFECTIVE SUPPORT
In first place, the University of Reading achieved an overall rating of 63 out of 100, based on HUMEN’s league metrics. In second place was the University of Oxford (60*), followed by the University of Central Lancashire (60*), the University of York (59*) and Canterbury Christ Church University (58*), making up the top 5.
Students at the University of Central Lancashire (3rd) are the most satisfied with the mental health support available to them (79%). And 56% of students surveyed thought that their university helps to prevent mental health issues arising thanks to the services provided or signposted.
Investing in mental health support is key and the University of Reading and the University of Brighton have the largest budgets in proportion of university income £70 per student). The University of Cambridge, which comes third in the table overall, allocates £56 per student for its mental health budget. While these figures appear low, it should be considered that not all students will rely on mental health services.
It is paramount that university staff are equipped to support students with mental health difficulties. The University of Essex has the highest percentage of staff trained in Mental Health First Aid (19%), however comparatively, the highly-respected University of Newcastle, the University of Birmingham and Lancaster University have no trained staff at all, or have not taken a course HUMEN considered credible, or simply chose not to respond to the freedom of information request.
UNIVERSITIES REQUIRING URGENT ATTENTION
Statistics gathered from the research and student surveys make for bleak reading and show an obvious gulf between students’ needs for university mental health services versus the provision and training currently in place. Nearly half (47%) of students believe that mental health difficulties during their time in higher education had a negative impact on their university experience.
Eighty universities were approached and those which didn’t respond to HUMEN’s Freedom of Information request were negatively marked. Some universities did not respond to HUMEN’s freedom of information request and the charity urges these institutions to share mental health data in order to for greater transparency, for the opportunity
Students at Staffordshire University are waiting nearly three-months to see a trained health professional. And unsurprisingly due to its league position, 38% of students at the University of Birmingham (80th) disagreed when asked if they were satisfied with the range of mental health support available at the university.
The redbrick University of Nottingham ranked 73rd place due to its low mental health budget and poor provision of services. And the University of Wolverhampton, which has over 20,000 students, had the smallest mental health budget (£3 per student) at the time of research than any other university in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
While 14% of staff across the universities appear to receive some online mental health and wellbeing training, HUMEN is concerned about the quality and focus on these courses, which may cover other areas such as nutrition. Standardised mental health training, through the Mental Health First Aid course is essential, and will enable HUMEN and other mental health experts to ensure that staff are adequately equipped to spot and deal with arising problems.
STUDENT USE OF MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
Research shows that while 57% of students have used mental health services provided by their university (including counselling services, helplines, self-help resources and wellbeing groups), the results show a lingering stigma around men and mental illnesses.
According to the data, 73% of men tried to access university services when struggling with their mental health. However, only 19% of male students were diagnosed by a medical professional to have a mental health condition. It appears a mental health diagnosis is more common among women (31%) and those who identify as non-binary (60%).
While HUMEN encourages universities to provide mental health support for all its student population, with 75% of suicides being men and this fatality being the biggest killer of men under 45, it’s essential that men’s mental health is taken seriously.
River Hawkins, founder of mental health charity HUMEN, said: “While it’s encouraging to see a number of universities performing well in HUMEN’s University Mental Health League Table, all universities need to make immediate improvements, so students get the essential care they need, particularly during a national mental health crisis following the pandemic. We want universities and students to consider mental health support just as much as they value academic performance. As well as providing universities with expert advice on the support structures students critically need, HUMEN pledges to open 100 HUMEN Spaces in the next five years in university towns to provide an anonymous, safe space for young people”.
“HUMEN is also disappointed in the government’s mental health package which is around £1 per student and wouldn’t even buy a cup of coffee – the budget should in fact be £100 per student. HUMEN has a wealth of insight on shocking university budgets and lack of staff training on mental health, and urges the government to take this seriously, rather than insulting the families of students who have been lost to suicide.”
Professor Peter Miskell, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education and Student Experience at the University of Reading, said: “The issue of student mental health is an important one and we welcome any initiatives that draw attention to the work that institutions are doing to support students during their time at university.”
“At Reading, we recognise that students may face many challenges which could be detrimental to their mental health and, of course, to their studies. We therefore provide access to a wide range of emotional and practical support. We have a team of qualified mental health advisors, counsellors and welfare officers, together with advice programmes and online services. We are pleased to see this work recognised in this new league table but have no doubt that there is always room for improvement.”
Leo, a 20-year-old medical student in London, said: “’Over lockdown, the outlets I had to protect my mental health disappeared and isolating had a big impact on me. I was reluctant to enter the university counselling service and although I was quite open with my friends about how this was affecting me, I often found these conversations quite superficial and difficult to navigate. The HUMEN space has allowed me to speak freely with others in open, vulnerable discussion. HUMEN is helping me find the tools to begin honest conversations about mental health, which, for me, is really freeing”.
Ben West, charity beneficiary and mental health campaigner, said: “Universities need to take HUMEN's University Mental Health League Table seriously and learn from this incredibly valuable research to improve the support they give to students. This league table provides some universities with a choice, they can either continue to believe that they are doing everything they can for their students, contrary to the evidence, or they can now make the very respectable decision to accept this result and then commit to learning and adapting to better support their students”.
“All universities have work to do here and they must make their students aware of all the services available to them, such as the brilliant charity HUMEN which provides a safe space for men to get together to talk honestly and anonymously”.
HUMEN’s University Mental Health League Table and tips for universities can be downloaded here.
