"Universities need to improve and expand their mental health support. Furthermore, this mental health support needs to be inclusive and fit for the diverse range of students who attend university."   National Union of Students, 2022

These days, more than 1 in 4 students will disclose a mental health problem of one type or another to their university - and encouragingly, they are increasingly seeking help and support. However, this means the internal pressure on university support services has never been higher, with many systems collapsing due to caseload overload.” 
 

As a university registrar, your primary responsibility is to ensure that your institution operates effectively and efficiently. However, there is a growing (and critical) need to address the mental health of your students because this is contributing to an alarming rate of student attrition. One of the main issues preventing us from addressing this problem is a lack of transparent reporting on mental health data, which is why we must prioritise breaking the stigma that still exists around disclosing mental health issues - despite a decade of progress thanks to campaigns from organisations like Student Minds, MIND, UCAS etc. Also, there are significant data gaps and inaccuracies caused by reporting challenges - partly as a result of the sensitive nature of the data in question, but also due in no small part to inadequacies in data capture, analysis, and monitoring processes and capabilities.