Report | Student mental health in 2023: Who is struggling and how the situation is changing

_{28 September 2023}

Summary

A better understanding of student mental health can help the higher education sector design services to support students. It is important to know how many people are struggling, who is struggling and what sort of help they need. 

This report of analysis of student mental health seeks to fill in the knowledge gaps around student mental health so that culturally appropriate and sensitive services can be designed. 

The analysis draws on results from the Student Academic Experiences Survey from 2016/17 to 2022/23, which includes data from over 80,000 respondents. 

The share of undergraduate students at universities across the UK who said they had experienced mental health difficulties rose from 6% to 16%, meaning around one in six reported such challenges. The analysis, by The Policy Institute at King’s College London and TASO, found a significant part of this increase occurred in the final academic year analysed; a period during which the cost of living crisis intensified. The analysis also shows that experiences of mental health among undergraduates are deeply unequal, with some groups much more affected than others. 

This report sets out what has happened to students’ mental health over the time period analysed; who experiences mental health challenges in terms of gender, LGBQT+, ethnicity, education background and socioeconomic background; how students’ experiences of university are associated with their mental health; and whether there is a association between mental health challenges among students and those considering dropping out of higher education.

Read the report