The mental health of students is a significant concern for further education settings. Around one in five 17- to 22-year-olds has an identifiable mental health condition.
An Association of Colleges report, based on a survey of 107 colleges, found that:
- All colleges reported having students with the following manifestations of mental health issues: self-harming, eating disorders, attempted suicide, and suicidal ideation/thoughts.
- 100% of colleges reported having students diagnosed with depression. 99% reported having students diagnosed with severe anxiety, 97% with bipolar disorder and 90% with psychosis.
- 85% of colleges reported an increase in students with disclosed mental health issues in the past three years – with 54% of colleges saying there were significant increases.
“Three lockdowns and the social distancing requirements of the pandemic have made the situation worse. Children and young people have struggled with the loss of normal social structures, being unable to socialise in person with peers and not being able to attend school or university. The need for teaching and assessment to take place virtually led to further stress because of the uncertainty it created about people’s futures. Research from the Centre of Mental Health shows that, in England, 1.5 million children and young people under 18 will need new or additional mental health support as a direct consequence of the coronavirus pandemic.” Children and Young People’s Mental Health
Pressures for the Further Education Sector
The FE Sector has been able to recruit Counsellors and Wellbeing Coaches to help with students who are facing any mental health issues. Student Mental Health is growing and the backlog of students who are waiting to see Counsellors and Coaches causes pressure in colleges.
The overall aim is to keep young people on the right track to enable them to achieve their career goals.
Funding
The situation for students’ mental health is not going away, in fact is increasing, and the education sector is desperate to find solutions to help our future generation.
There are very limited funds being allocated to the FE sector for this and they are now having to get creative to fund solutions.
IPS Ltd and Mindspace 24/7 can help provide solutions.
Even though covid-19 is not a news priority at present. The fact is the experience of the lockdown is still with students, many of them have experience very little exam conditions and only this year SATS Tests have been returned to schools and for the last two years GCSE and A levels results were taken from predictive grades.
Meaning for students returning to “normal” has provided immense pressure for them. On many occasions the government have said that funding will be available however the return of this has been limited, and the need is now not later.
As we all know its in your interest to spend allocations of funding, so the last thing that is wanted is to return funding and then receive a reduced allocation for the following academic year.
A college has recently purchased hourly credits from MindSpace24/7 for therapists to support mental health to extend the aids for students.
How can MindSpace 24/7 help?
In partnership with IPS Ltd, MindSpace 24/7, is committed to removing the barriers to access mental health and wellbeing services within colleges and universities for their students and employees. We have developed a system where students and teachers can access a fully qualified BACP counsellor, on video call or telephone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The access is almost instant and doesn’t require a GP appointment and the inevitable long waiting times.
MindSpace 24/7’s large team is highly skilled, with licensed counsellors and therapists who specialise in multiple areas including exam stress, anxiety, body dysmorphia, loneliness, relationship issues, sexual worries, life coaching, bullying and depression.
How this works
Further Education Colleges purchase credits which can then be allocated to your students by your college staff. The student will then be able to choose and book the therapist of their choice.
This extension of resources will provide an assistance to your Counsellors and Coaches and reduce any waiting time for students, meaning that students will have the help they need to focus on achieving their courses.
“Providing the resources to the education sector so that students can speak to someone at any time of day and night even out of term times is a breakthrough. We have all faced difficult times through lockdown and even now the there are many pressures that we face including fuel and food price increases.
The pressures for teenagers are always a struggle. However, they have had a tough journey in the transition from school to further education over the past few years, especially as covid-19 has created changes in the way that the processes take place and for teenagers this has continued to be stressful. Now, returning to exam conditions this year means that they have limited experience of this environment.
Moving forwards, we know that the education sector wants to make sure that their students are in a safe and strong environment and can easily provide aids for any mental health issues that they have. However, staff workloads are always pushed to a high capacity and we at MindSpace are able to ensure that there is an additional resource available.
IPS Ltd has always focused on being able to provide the education sector with stronger abilities, and now with the partnership of MindSpace 24/7, our combined offer is superb and we can go the extra mile to enable you to gain the best experience from us, your students in their college journey is positive and successful, and your staff have the resources they need so that they are providing quality and not quantity.” Robert Powell, Managing Director of IPS Ltd and MindSpace 24/7.
Contact us
If you would like to discuss how to purchase credits, with Mindspace24/7 further, please email info@mindspace247.com we can provide you with all the information and we can work with you don’t have to return funding.
We can help you take the steps to improve the lives of students, no matter what challenges they are facing in complete confidence.
Join our webinar
On Thursday 8th September 2022, 10.30 am – 11.30 am, MindSpace 24/7 would like to invite you and your colleagues to our FREE webinar, where you will learn more about our company offer and further information on how we can provide therapy resources for you.
You will meet some of our management team and there will be two guest speakers who will be providing you with sessions on laughter and meditation.
There will be a question and answer session where you are welcome to ask us any questions you have.
To register places for you and your colleagues click HERE.
Your thoughts