12 March 202610:30–15:30
Rethinking student wellbeing support
TASO Offices, 58 Victoria Embankment, Blackfriars, London EC4
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In an era of rising demand for student support around mental health and wellbeing, evaluation and finding out what works – and what doesn’t work – is essential.
Join us on 12 March (10:30–15:30) for an in-person interactive session to explore what’s helping or hindering student wellbeing and mental health, and to examine findings from recent TASO-commissioned research on the evaluation and impact of wellbeing interventions on student outcomes.
The session includes a lunch and networking session, and will be held at TASO’s offices in Blackfriars, London EC4.
Who should attend?
- Higher education practitioners working to directly support wellbeing and mental health in higher education
- Organisations and charities directly involved in supporting wellbeing and mental health initiatives in higher education
- Evaluation professionals focusing on causal evidence around wellbeing and mental health interventions in higher education
- Policymakers and widening-participation leads focusing on closing equality gaps in student access, success and progression.
Why attend?
- Analytics and student wellbeing: Discover more about how administrative data can be used to prompt initiatives, using randomised controlled trials
- Small cohorts: Learn about evaluating interventions with small cohorts, and theory-based evaluation methodologies
- Benefit for your institution: Find out about the results of evaluations of mental health interventions using various methodologies, and how these can be applied to your university or college
- Networking and collaboration opportunities: Connect with peers across the higher education sector to discuss student mental health in higher education
Agenda
| Time | Session | Speakers |
|---|---|---|
| 10:30 | Welcome | |
| 10:35 | Student mental health in 2026: setting the scene This session will provide an overview of the current student mental health and wellbeing landscape in 2026. | Jane Harris, Co-Director of Student Welfare and Support Services and Head of Counselling, University of Oxford |
| 10:50 | Lessons from the sector: Three TASO flagship projects This session will present the key findings and emerging themes from our flagship three research projects on student mental health. | Dr Eliza Kozman, Deputy CEO, TASO |
| 11:05 | Measuring wellbeing: Analytics and assumptions Is poor wellbeing likely to result in poor academic engagement? What role can analytics play in measuring and supporting student wellbeing? In this session, we will unpack TASO’s randomised controlled trials on evaluating wellbeing interventions prompted by analytics. You will hear from representatives at partner universities who worked with us on the project. | Dr Rob Summers, Head of Evaluation, TASO Dr Carly Foster, Assistant Professor, Northumbria University Professor Helena Gillespie, Associate Pro Vice Chancellor for Student Inclusion, Professor of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, University East Anglia Vanessa Dodd, Head Of Education Research & Evaluation in Academic Quality and Development, University of Staffordshire Parnika Purwar, Research Assistant – Evidence Development and Incubation Team (EDIT), Policy Institute at King’s |
| 11:55 | Break | |
| 12:15 | Ingredients for effective support: A small cohorts case study What elements help are vital for effectively supporting student mental health? This session will draw on insights from our evaluation with two universities looking particularly at support delivered to small cohorts of students. | Tatjana Damjanovic, Senior Research Officer, TASO Syra Shakir, Associate Professor, Learning and Teaching, Strategic Lead Race Equity, Leeds Trinity University Emma Roberts, Freelance Consultant, Tharani Learning and Research Fiona Remnant, Managing Director, Bath SDR Dr Michael Hobson, Senior Lecturer, St Mary’s University |
| 13:05 | Lunch and networking | |
| 13:55 | From intervention to experience: Student reflections on mental health support This panel discussion will draw on student perspectives from the project and explore how mental health and wellbeing interventions are experienced in practice. This session reflect on what feels meaningful and what can be learned from centring student perspectives alongside evaluation activity. | Tatjana Damjanovic, Senior Research Officer, TASO Dr Emma Broglia, Lecturer in Psychology, University of Sheffield Kristenn-Lénaïg Leporcher (student representative) Ruichen Yin (student representative) Jodie O’Brien (student representative) |
| 14:35 | Short break | |
| 14:40 | Rethinking student wellbeing support – where to next? We will be joined by a panel of experts to discuss how to chart a path forward on student mental health in higher education in 2026. | Dr Eliza Kozman, Deputy CEO, TASO Professor Michael Sanders, Professor of Public Policy and Director, Experimental Government Team, King’s College London Dr Gareth Hughes, Charter Content Development Lead and Psychoeducational Lead, Student Minds Professor Deborah Johnston, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic Framework), London South Bank University Professor Sandeep Ranote, Medical Director and Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, NHS |
| 15:50 | Wrap up and close | Dr Omar Khan, CEO, TASO |
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