Transition into Higher Education for students with mental health conditions
It's widely understood that the transition points of entry into HE, into postgraduate study and into the workplace can be challenging.
Transition into HE
Our resources aim to highlight some of the potential areas it's worth exploring with students with mental health conditions at various transition points. Although they are broken down into various cohorts, many of the resources are transferable to a degree.
There are a number of areas which can cause difficulty for students with mental health conditions starting university life - whether this is their first time away from home, or if they are a mature student.
The experience of our members shows that people new to Higher Education often have a lack of understanding about what support might be on offer. To prepare, our advice is:
Language
- Students with an Education, Health and Care Plan, or other learning support needs will often not understand the very different terminology that is used in Higher Education.
- Disabled/disability - this tends to replace "Special Educational Needs" with a focus very much on the social model of disability. Disability Services in universities were set up many years ago and use the Equality Act 2010 for guidance. This means that students with long term mental health conditions, even if they do not have a formal diagnosis, meet the criteria for being protected as disabled people.
Resources
UCAS have a toolkit for advisers supporting students applying to university, which includes advice on sharing information about mental health needs.
Student Minds produced a resource aimed at years 12-13 and their educators.
Unite Students, an accommodation provider has developed a programme called Leapskills to help prepare young people for life away from home.
The Office for Students funded 10 projects on student mental health in 2018 two of which focused on transition support for students with mental health conditions. The resources from the two projects (at the University of Lincoln and the University of Sussex) are available here.
Photo by Suzanne D. Williams on Unsplash.
The importance of supporting student wellbeing during transition into Higher Education
