UoN Ranks Poorly in Mental Health League Table

The University of Nottingham ranked as 73 out of 80 universities in a mental health league table produced by mental health charity HUMEN as part of ‘a one-year study to create a first-of-its-kind university mental health ranking.’

The league table focuses on 6 factors:

• Service Provision

• Financing • Awareness

• Engagement

• Satisfaction

• Total Mental Health Score

Over 7,200 students ‘shared their levels of satisfaction and engagement’, which was then ‘combined with in-depth data on mental health budgets and staff training’. For each category, every university is ranked using a scale from ‘Very Poor’ to ‘Excellent.’

The league table ranked Reading, Oxford, Central Lancashire, York, and Canterbury Christ University as the best for dealing with mental health - with Oxford scoring ‘Excellent’ in every category. In contrast, the University of Nottingham was the only university classified as ‘Very Poor’ in every section.

However, there are doubts surrounding the validity of the league table itself. UK student mental health charity, Student Minds, has stated that whilst the league table was ‘intended as a tool to inform students,’ it has questions regarding its ‘robustness and methodology’ - with concerns it could be misleading and harmful.

Student Minds elaborated that focusing on a factor such as the amount of money a university invests in mental health services can oversimplify things and disregards a multitude of varying factors that are also detrimental to a student’s mental health. This includes whether funding is going towards ‘quality, student-appropriate services, the size and makeup of the student population, whether a university is instead investing in preventative measures, or how strategically and holistically this funding is used.’

Impact spoke to UoN students to see if their experiences with the university’s mental health services were aligned with HUMEN’s findings. One student stated that after contacting their tutor for support, they were pleasantly surprised with how quickly the University responded, providing them with a wealth of information regarding how they, in conjunction with Cripps Health Centre, could help: “the university was, on the whole, very helpful.”

Yet not every story was positive. A common cause of concern is counselling waiting times. A Nottingham student told Impact that after registering with the counselling service, they had to wait 4 months for an appointment. After their first session, they had to wait another six weeks for a second.

Another student - who waited 5 weeks for an appointment - said: “I think the counsellor I had was really good, obviously I don’t know if all the counsellors are that good. But the issue is that more time and money need to be invested into the service so that students can get more regular appointments.”

by India Rose Marriott

Illustration/Page Design by Catrin Dimond

For Mental health Support:

• University Mental Health Advisory Service - 0115 7484625

• The University’s Counselling Service

• Nottingham Nightline - 015 9514 985

• Samaritans - 116 123

• NHS 24hr Helpline in a Crisis - 0808 196 3779

• Text SHOUT to 85258