Stretched at Both Ends: Pressure on Student Services and the Impact on Academic Staff at UK Universities

The role and responsibility of universities in supporting student mental health has been the subject of high-profile legal debate. Drawing on a thematic analysis of twelve semi-structured focus groups conducted during the Student Minds UK University Mental Health Charter consultations, this paper elucidates the experiences, perceptions, and practices of 75 staff working within student services to support student mental health, with the aim of clarifying the implications for role responsibilities within a whole university approach. Participants described being ‘stretched at both ends’ in response to a significant and ongoing increase both in overall demand and complexity of presentation, further compounded by capacity challenges in public mental health services. Despite the care and commitment of staff, these conditions compromise the effectiveness, safety, and accessibility of university services. As a result, students increasingly present with mental health challenges in academic settings, multiplying risk for themselves, their peers, academic staff, and their universities, whilst negatively impacting the learning process. Thus, precisely as sectoral debate around UK universities’ legal duty of care intensifies, the role and responsibility of university services and academic staff in relation to other institutional and external stakeholders is becoming increasingly indeterminate. Taken together, the findings demonstrate the imperative of clearer conceptualisation and investment in student services alongside closer working relationships with academic staff to ensure student success and safety, and to meet the principles of good practice in the University Mental Health Charter, as advocated by UK government.