Students who are struggling with their mental health can wait a whole academic year to receive help from university counselling services, while others are allowed only six sessions for their entire degree, according to a new survey.
Parents who took part in the survey criticised UK universities for failing to contact them when their child was struggling with their mental health. Others said that when they got in touch with their child’s university to raise concerns, these were not escalated.
Some accused providers of failing to act even when a student did not turn up for a single lecture all term. “We did not know anything was a problem until our son sent us a message indicating that he did not want to live,” said one parent, whose son had stopped attending.
“My son did not attend lectures for a whole term due to mental health issues and no one noticed or cared,” said another.
Parents, along with others who contributed to the survey, also expressed concern about the level of support for students’ mental health at university which varies widely across the sector and was described as “woeful” by one.
