Research from around the globe has highlighted that university student wellbeing is lower than that of the general adult population (see for example Adlaf et al., 2001; Larcombe et al., 2014), and student wellbeing has only worsened during the pandemic (see Liyanage et al., 2021). This is especially true for postgraduate taught (PGT) students who have been identified as a particularly vulnerable group, reporting the lowest levels of wellbeing in any university student group, and being referred to as the ‘forgotten cohort’ (Coneyworth et al., 2019). With increasing numbers of PGTs (approximately 25 per cent of the UK student body in 2021–22; HESA, 2022) it is important that these students are given the attention they deserve.
Researchers have attributed the poor wellbeing of PGT students to their unique university experience (McPherson et al., 2017): that is, undergoing a great deal of change in a very short time frame. In the UK context, this is typically one year of intense study comprising both taught and research components. Changes that PGTs experience over the span of their short degree include:
- transitioning to new learning environments
- experiencing higher academic expectations
- adapting to new living environments
- developing new support systems
- juggling increased academic and personal responsibilities.
If we want to help improve the wellbeing of our PGT students, we must first establish the current wellbeing levels of this cohort. We can then develop an understanding of the factors that help and hinder our PGTs’ wellbeing. With this knowledge, we will be able to create targeted interventions to strengthen the wellbeing of our PGT students.
