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Our students
We have over 29,000 students from more than 140 countries, contributing more than 50% of our total income through tuition fees and accommodation payments. Students are key to our success and we value their engagement and listen to the student voice.
Our dedicated University community is working hard to help our students reconnect and recover their sense of belonging. This year, the Students’ Union ran an innovative campaign to encourage students to nurture their own wellbeing by practising self-care and setting boundaries around their academic work, and aimed to raise awareness of the increasing levels of support available for students experiencing poor mental health. Over the past five years we have doubled the size of our Wellbeing team, placing Wellbeing Advisers in faculties and schools.
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The rising cost of living affects us all, and our students are no exception. In response to the increases in energy costs, we have increased our hardship funding. Together with the Students’ Union we are developing more information, advice and support to students on budgeting, healthy finances and navigating the rising cost of living.
The war in Ukraine provided a stark reminder of the importance of our status as a University of Sanctuary. Enabled by generous funding which included £1m from the University’s Development Trust, our students and colleagues have worked tirelessly with regional and national partners to provide emergency bursaries for our Ukrainian students, full-fee Sanctuary Scholarships for some of those unable to continue their studies, specialist wellbeing and counselling support, and with the help of our award-winning student-run volunteer project (North East Solidarity and Training) free English language support to the refugee community in the University and region.
Sport also has a vital role to play in reconnecting our student community and supporting their wellbeing, and June 2022 saw the official opening of our new Sport and Fitness Centre following a £32m investment. This year saw record numbers of students taking out gym membership, and participation in our sports clubs recovered to pre-pandemic levels. Nationally, our British Universities and Colleges Sports (BUCS) team had a fantastic year, finishing in a highest-ever 8th position in the BUCS league. Meanwhile, a new Sport and Active Wellbeing Plan, developed with the support of the Students’ Union, aims to make the University a national leader in the delivery of inclusive sport and active wellbeing, inspiring our students to be the best they can be.
Also linked to good mental health is our ongoing work with our Sabbatical Officers to create a respectful, inclusive campus environment where bullying and harassment, sexual violence, discrimination and hate crime are challenged and reported, and action taken. We are expanding the number of Sexual Violence and Hate Crime Liaison Officers, improving training and education for our students and colleagues, implementing effective systems for reporting, and running campaigns to raise awareness that hate crime will not be tolerated in our community. We are working closely with the Students’ Union to foster belonging in our student community.
For our students living in our accommodation, engagement has continued through our ResLife teams providing both in-person and online activities and support. During 2021–22, ResLife recorded 82,558 engagements, which included attendance at events or interactions via competitions or social media. In addition, 900 students engaged with our educational curriculum including the six-week programme at the start of term, with alcohol and drugs education. Informal support has been provided by the ResLife team as well as support provided by Student Welfare and the Student Health and Wellbeing Service.
I wanted to offer my support during the official opening of the new Sport and Fitness Centre because it allowed me to showcase the new wheelchairs we bought for the wheelchair basketball team that we will be using in BUCS next year. The ability to train with such equipment at Newcastle is a rare find.
