Activist Ben West has launched the first-ever university mental health league table to help school leavers make fully informed decisions about where they attend higher education.
Ben West, an activist who has campaigned tirelessly to hold universities to account for failing to adequately support students in their care, together with the charity HUMEN, which advocates to improve and maintain men’s mental health, have spearheaded the launch of an initiative to do just that.
This week, the first-ever university league table focused entirely on mental health and wellbeing was published, receiving widespread praise from students.
Mental Health League Tables for universities
In a study involving data from surveys of 7,200 students and FOI requests to universities, HUMEN has compiled a list featuring 80 UK higher education institutions. Each has been evaluated in the areas of satisfaction, engagement, awareness, financing and service provision, before being awarded a total mental health score.
Its research covered aspects such as the number of students who would use a university mental health support service, mental health spending as a percentage of total university expenditure, and the proportion of staff who have received mental health training.
The results, which go into a greater level of detail than the satisfaction scores widely used by popular league tables, are set to be informative – and perhaps surprising – for both current and prospective students.
Oxford, York and Lancs come out on top
York, Central Lancashire and Oxford are among the universities with the highest reported student satisfaction, with the University of Reading taking the top spot.
The University of Bristol, an institution notorious for the mental health crisis among its student population, came in at 68th on the list.
Despite the university’s overhaul of its pastoral care provisions in recent years, it serves as a prime example that there is much more than the higher education system can do to safeguard student wellbeing.
In regards to the higher education sector as a whole, the study revealed some concerning statistics.
Only 4% of university staff were found to have completed the Mental Health First Aid programme, while 44% of students disagreed that their university helps to prevent the emergence of mental health issues.
The charity also criticised the government’s response to these issues, highlighting that its university mental health package will deliver only 1% of the funding needed to address the crisis – in other words, around £1 per student.
Universities must ‘offer good mental health support’
In an Instagram post West stated the importance of universities offering ‘good mental health support’.
He added: ‘The aim [of the league table] is to give parents and students the means to make informed choices about where they study and then over time, we can drive universities to improve their support through the power we hold as consumers.
To the many people I’ve met in their darkest moments and to the loved ones they’ve lost – You shouldn’t have had to go through what you did, but it’s my hope that one day people won’t have to anymore.’
Echoing West’s words, HUMEN was critical of institutional failures in the higher education system, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in students being unable to cope and ultimately in loss of life.
‘Suicide is the biggest killer of under 24s in the UK’
It has warned that the evidence indicates a worsening mental health crisis if services are not improved straight away, and has offered universities the opportunity to access expert advice and resources through its HUMEN Space scheme.
‘Suicide is the biggest killer of under 24s in the UK. This first-of-its-kind report reveals concerning findings on mental health support for students,’ it stated.
‘Every single suicide is a devastation. These are human beings losing their lives, for reasons that are often preventable. Universities must take responsibility for providing substantial mental health support.’
It is hoped that the project will raise awareness of improvements that need to be made in the student well-being facilities of universities across the country.
Moving forward, it represents a step towards helping to prevent the devastating consequences of inadequate mental health provisions for young people.