Student Mental Health and Wellbeing Working Group: 2 November 2022

Attendees and apologies

Attendees

• Jamie Hepburn MSP, Minister for Higher Education and Further Education, Youth Employment, and Training
• Debbie Browett, Scottish Government
• Steven Paxton, Scottish Government
• Daniel McCarron, Scottish Government
• Adam Rendall, Scottish Government
• Alison Eales, QAA Scotland
• Allie Scott, University of the Highlands and Islands
• Andy Shanks, University of Edinburgh
• Brian Magee, COSCA 
• Chris Jones, Unite the Union 
• Craig Smith, SAMH 
• Eileen Imlah, EIS
• Fiona Burns, Scottish Funding Council
• Fiona Drouet, Emily Test 
• Pamela Gillies, Glasgow Caledonian University and Universities Scotland
• Jen Johnston, Heriot-Watt University
• Jill Stevenson, University of Stirling and AMOSSHE 
• Jon Vincent, Glasgow Clyde College and Colleges Scotland
• Julie Sinclair, SAAS
• Katie Gilbert, NUS Think Positive
• Kirsten Amis, Glasgow Clyde College
• Lauren Knight, Universities Scotland 
• Liam Furby, NUS Scotland
• Lorna Caldwell, SAAS
• Murdo Mathison, UCU
• Ruth Unsworth, University of St Andrews 
• Stef Black, SPARQS
• Stew Fowlie, Scottish Student Sport
• Tom Hall, Colleges Scotland 

Apologies

• Robert Partridge, University of Glasgow
• Ellen Mackintosh, University of St Andrews
• Steve Mulligan, BACP

Items and actions

Introduction, welcome and apologies

Mr Hepburn welcomed everyone to the meeting and noted apologies from members as listed above.

Minutes of previous meeting

The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed as an accurate record and members approved them for publication on the Scottish Government website.

Revised timeline

Members were content with the revised timeline for the Group’s activities, which had been updated to reflect changes to the meeting schedule.

Embedding mental health in the curriculum

Kirsten Amis (Glasgow Clyde College) gave a presentation on the topic of embedding mental health and wellbeing in the curriculum. The importance of understanding the relationship between mental health and learning, and how classroom content and assessment strategies impact upon student’s mental health was discussed.

Members thanked Ms Amis for her helpful presentation and she agreed to share additional resources after the meeting, including some of the work done by the University of Derby in collaboration with AdvanceHE.

Post-meeting note: Scottish Government officials have liaised with Ms Amis and sent the supplementary resources to the Group. 

Student sport

Stew Fowlie (Scottish Student Sport) gave a presentation on the value of student sport initiatives, calling for a joined-up and preventative approach to student mental health and wellbeing via active participation in sport.

Members thanked Mr Fowlie for his helpful presentation.

In discussion, it was noted that institutions can sometimes feel that they lack the resources or facilities to provide organised sporting activities; however, these barriers can often be overcome by drawing on existing resources within the local community and surrounding environment. 

Members also discussed potential barriers to participation in sports groups for students experiencing mental health difficulties or who have a disability. It was agreed this should be factored into planning by the institutions, in partnership with the appropriate stakeholders, such as SAMH and Scottish Disability Sport, as well as student associations and individual students themselves.

It was also noted that active health is not solely about sports groups. Institutions can encourage students to undertake activities in their free time or link it to their course and there is an opportunity for them to be creative in how they frame this. An example was given of ‘Adventure Trails’ at UHI, a project which encourages students to go for a walk and take photos which can then be shared with their peers and displayed online.

Evidence gathering

Mr Hepburn informed the Group that officials have now concluded the literature review in preparation for the drafting of the Student Mental Health Plan.

Any other business

Mr Hepburn noted that a roundtable discussion on clinical referral pathways took place on 27 September and this will be tabled as a topic for discussion at the next meeting of the Group.

The Group were informed that Scottish Government have conducted a number of in-person staff and student engagement sessions as part of the Scottish Government’s wider Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy consultation which will further inform our work on the Plan.

Ruth Unsworth (University of St. Andrews), referred to findings from the Mental Health Foundations ‘Thriving Learners’ study which showed that almost one fifth of students have been emotionally bullied. Ms Unsworth noted that improving student and staff conflict resolution skills would contribute to a more compassionate environment within institutions and highlighted to the Group that the University of St. Andrews is running a training course on mediation and conflict resolution in January which members were welcome to sign up for.

Members from NUS Scotland, Universities Scotland, and Colleges Scotland raised two further items of business in relation to Scottish Government funding of additional mental health counsellors in colleges and universities, and the NUS Think Positive project.

Jon Vincent (Glasgow Clyde College and Colleges Scotland) noted that institutions require confirmation of their funding allocations for this current Academic Year as a priority, otherwise they will need to consider whether they can continue the contracts of the staff employed under this initiative.

Professor Pamela Gillies (Universities Scotland), re-iterated this point and also called for an innovative approach to address the student demand for mental health support, including drawing on existing NHS resources such as community mental health nurses, and establishing better referral pathways between institutions and the health service.

Mr Hepburn advised that the Scottish Government is considering this matter as a priority and will inform institutions of their funding allocations for AY 2022/23, as soon as budgets have been confirmed. 

Liam Furby (NUS Scotland), requested that the Scottish Government respond to NUS Think Positive’s funding proposal for 2022/23, as the project will not be able to continue beyond this year without continued Scottish Government support. This point was supported by members from Colleges Scotland and Universities Scotland.

Mr Hepburn advised that, similar to funding for counsellors, the Scottish Government regards this as a high priority issue and will respond to NUS Think Positive’s proposal imminently.

Post-meeting note: The Scottish Government has now responded to NUS Think Positive’s funding proposal with an offer of grant.

Date of next meeting

Mr Hepburn informed members that the next meeting of the Group will take place on 15 November.