Mental wellbeing in higher education is where all staff and students can work and learn productively, contributing to and engaging with university life and their community while coping with life's normal stresses. It is important to consider that poor mental health and mental wellbeing do not need to exist in parallel. An individual can have a good sense of mental wellbeing yet be living with a diagnosed mental illness.
Institutions should strive to maintain the optimum wellbeing of their staff and student population by providing the appropriate tools and support to allow them to engage productively with the learning experience.
We can help you:
- Pinpoint areas where mental health and wellbeing issues impact retention or attainment and student success.
- Review, develop and support the implementation of your mental health strategy.
- Train your staff on trauma-informed pedagogies and inclusive curriculum design.
- Develop the leadership of mental health and wellbeing within your institution.
- Redesign your services to streamline resources and create agile responses to user needs.
The Mental Wellbeing in Higher Education Group (MWBHE)
The Mental Wellbeing in Higher Education Expert Group supports and promotes the mental health of higher education students and staff
The aim is to increase collaboration between the different sectors, agencies and professional groups responsible for mental wellbeing in higher education.
Explore our latest reports and publications on mental health and wellbeing
The Student Needs Framework provides a foundation for considering the redesign of student support services across higher education providers. The project also includes case studies to illustrate how the framework is being used in practice.
A Competency Framework for Responding to Students in Distress
The Competency Framework sets out key approaches, skills and knowledge that enable all student-facing staff to actively participate in student support. Developed by the Higher Education Mental Health Implementation Taskforce, it acknowledges that not all students will engage directly with central or specialist support services.
Embedding Wellbeing into the Curriculum: A Global Compendium of Good Practice
The aim of this Compendium is to highlight specific examples of how colleagues in the UK and beyond think they have improved student wellbeing through their teaching, and to explore their differing understandings of wellbeing.
Student mental wellbeing in higher education: good practice guide (2015)
The 2015 good practice guidance examined student requirements and the increasing diversity of higher education provision emerging across the UK's four nations.
Framework for Student Access, Retention, Attainment and Progression
The framework is designed for all staff with a remit to support students to achieve their potential. Consideration of the impact of policies, practices and support services from the student perspective, institution-wide collaboration and the engagement of students as partners are key to student success.
Equality in higher education: statistical reports 2024
This report presents a snapshot of a variety of sociodemographic characteristics of the HE workforce for the academic year 2022-23, also accounting for intersectional considerations. The main aim of this report is to highlight opportunities and challenges regarding the promotion of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) for staff in UK HE.
The inclusive curriculum in higher education
This literature review makes a proportionate contribution to help practitioners, policymakers and researchers inform their own research or practice by focusing on relevant questions, issues and sources of evidence concerning the inclusive curriculum.
Student Academic Experience Survey
In 2024, over 10,300 full-time undergraduate students responded to the survey, revealing an increasingly positive student experience. At the same time, the cost-of-living crisis is affecting students’ mental health and their overall perceptions of value, while increasing their workloads.
Access more mental health and wellbeing resources in our Knowledge Hub
Latest blogs
Belonging is a difficult term to define and it is unclear from our data whether the project directly improves student belonging. However, it is clear that students welcome the opportunity to meet outside of the formal teaching space and all institutions should be thinking how they may facilitate this.”Building Belonging Change Impact Programme participant
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