This University Mental Health Day, our Head of Student Equality and Welfare reflects on the Office for Students’ (OfS’s) growing pool of evidence on what works to support student mental health.
No student should be held back by their mental health. The higher education sector has worked well together in recent years to improve the support available for students, but we can – and should – strive for better.
University Mental Health Day is an opportunity for the sector to reflect on their existing approaches to supporting students and consider where they might improve or develop their methods.
For the OfS, student mental health is a key strategic priority. Evidence matters, particularly when it comes to students’ health and wellbeing. We believe that a strong evidence base, rigorous evaluation and effective collaboration can achieve meaningful change for students. Our evidence-based approach has meant that over the past year, we have:
- published an independent report looking at insights into joined-up working between higher education and healthcare professionals to support student mental health
- launched a new, OfS-funded Evidence Hub in partnership with TASO to improve student mental health support evaluation
- boosted funding by £400,000 for Student Minds to accelerate growth of the University Mental Health Charter
- published an Insight brief on meeting the mental health needs of students’ which examines the differences in outcomes between students who report having mental health conditions and those who don’t.
