Mental Health & Wellbeing

Mental health significantly affects university students’ experiences, impacting academic performance, engagement, social life and retention. In recent years, mental health in UK higher education has become a priority concern, with research showing that students face increasing levels of stress, anxiety, and depression.

HEPI: Explaining the rise in student mental health and wellbeing issues

HE Professional: How Does Poor Mental Health Affect Students? 6 Key Impacts

HEPI: University Mental Health Day: Why we encourage students to disclose their mental health conditions and why you should too

HE Professional: 10 Ways to Combat Student Loneliness: A Guide for Higher Education Professionals

Universities UK: Stepchange: Mentally Healthy Universities

UoP: This is just the beginning – male students’ mental health

chart of mental health for male and female students

Following Movember in 2024, UoP raised the issue of men’s mental health in the article above. On this page, you can hear from some of our male students about their struggles with mental health and how they are working through it.

Male students are also much less likley to seek support for their wellbeing; the proportion of male UG students at UoP who have contacted wellbeing for a consultation has remained at 9% in each of the last three years.

In addition, the proportion of female students with a mental health condition has more than doubled over seven years.