Universities UK (UUK) say they want more mental health support for placement students in a newly published checklist.
UUK – a collective voice of 140 universities in the UK – has published a checklist for universities to help them support students in the transition to, during, and upon returning from placement, so they are prepared for success in both this part of their course and beyond.
placement students’ mental health support
For many degrees placements an essential part of completing them so UUK is highlighting how such significant changes to a student’s circumstances can have a considerable impact on their mental health and wellbeing.
They write: ‘Students may move to a different location, away from their informal and formal university support networks.’
Stating it may also be a student’s first real experience joining a professional workplace, where they will experience a different physical environment, culture and learning challenges.
One campaigner Isabella De George, was consulted on the checklist by UUK after she tragically lost her brother Harrison, who died by suicide, while on a teaching placement in 2020.
She said: ‘I am so pleased to have been able have been so closely consulted on this work which could change the lives of so many placement students. Placement students have an even more challenging time than most university students as they juggle their academic work alongside full-time placement in the workplace, whilst facing the potential financial and travel pressures of placements.
‘Universities need to recognise that placement students require additional support to ensure their wellbeing is looked after. As a previous nursing student, I have felt these pressures first hand and I needed more support from the university in comparison to my friends.
‘If this checklist was available whilst Harrison was on placement, I feel that he would’ve felt a lot more supported by his university, with the right policies in place to safeguard his wellbeing. Unfortunately for Harrison this wasn’t available, which makes me even more passionate about this checklist, in order to safeguard the mental wellbeing of placement students and help prevent potential student suicides.’
UUK Placement students mental health support checklist
The new publication sets out the importance of support both before, during, and after a placement and the checklist recommends actions for universities at each stage, including:
- Check in advance of the placement that the workplace setting has properly considered wellbeing and has clear routes for support when people need it.
- Ensure that wellbeing is a key part of pre-placement briefings and training, such as techniques for maintaining a good work/life balance, or preparing healthcare students for potentially upsetting and traumatic situations.
- Establish a key university contact for each student and provide students with opportunities to ‘check-in’ with that person on both a scheduled and unplanned basis if needed.
- Similar check-ins should happen once the placement has ended, to ensure students are settling back into university life and that any support that was in place prior to their placement is continuing.
- Work with the placement provider to set-out a clear process for unnotified or unexplained absence reporting, so it is clear how concerns for a students’ whereabouts or welfare would be escalated to the university.
- Provide study skills workshops to help students feel more confident returning to academic life, and encourage networks for placement students to keep in-touch and support each other at this time.