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University mental health dataset guidance notes
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The data each university holds varies and can be incomplete or reflect different information from one university to another
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Comparisons cannot be made between universities. Please read the notes below for more information.
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Please contact your local universities for specific details
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Overall Data
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<5 (less than five) responses were given to protect the identity of students or staff so complete totals may not be known
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Percentage totals may not add up to 100 due to rounding
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Some info in numbers, some in percentages
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Overtime data omits universities with incomplete data
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Disability Support Allowance is funded separate to universities - universities may include Disability departments in their responses which may have externally funded elements and interventions funded internally
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Universities without complete data for all years will have been removed from the analysis for budget and numbers seeking help over time
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Number of students seeking support
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Numbers may not be accurate as data collected could be partial, incomplete, only cover one service or may show requests where students didn't take up an appointment
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May not be clear what services students have used
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Numbers may be for assessments from when the student asked for support, some reflect the first face to face counselling appointments, some may be for mental health advice
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Some totals include staff as it may not have been possible to separate those numbers out
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Students may be double counted when they see multiple services or have used the one service more than once
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Some universities will classify the number of students seen as those registering for support only - not all of those students will have an appointment with a service
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Online registration services part way through records may show a big increase in totals of students seeking support
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Information may not capture services such as online, phone or workshops
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Student population data from HESA only available for 2016/17, therefore the percentage of the student population seeking support for mental health issues will only be available for that year
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Services
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Services are categorised differently- counselling, group workshops etc can be counted as separate services by one university and another may classify a service as a Mental Health Service/Department
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Some unis include disability services which also support students separate to mental health
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Big White Wall and Nightline - peer support and night services are available at several universities
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Services may be outsourced during the five year period
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University services may have restructured changing the nature of funding
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Staffing
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Number of staff and full time equivalent (FTE) numbers inconsistent as some universities will have given both, some just FTE and some total number of staff
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Staff - Some will have included admin - where possible have omitted
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Some will have recorded volunteers, trainee counsellors and student peer support whilst others will not have counted volunteers or trainees
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Universities may not have counted volunteers or disability services staff
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Demographics
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Demographics within one university may have totals that don’t match as not all students fill in all the demographic info as it's not mandatory
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Demographic data totals may not match as the information may come from multiple datasets, could be data for one department out of multiple departments or students may be double counted
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Universities record age ranges differently so aren't comparable between institutions - there is a separate tab "Age ranges captured differently" for age ranges that differ from under 25 and over 25
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Student population gathered from here unless supplied by university - https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/11-01-2018/sfr247-higher-education-student-statistics/location
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Waiting times
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Students may book their first appointments so this can impact on waiting times
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Waiting time may have increased due to staffing issues
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Averages for wait times are skewed as busy times of years don't compare to summer months when there's no wait
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Waiting times may be for the initial assessment or for counselling, this is not always clear
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Wait times can be skewed by summer holidays and term time breaks and can be influnced by student availability
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Budgets
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Budgets can be for overall services or specific services - many universites have supplied a larger budget which encompasses other support services which don't just support students with mental health issues
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Some universities have not submitted budgets as they haven't been able to separate the mental health support costs from overall larger service costs
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Budgetary info can be for specific services but for some universities can include services outside of the mental health remit as the spend on mental health alone can’t always be separated out
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Workings on budget changes over time omit universities with incomplete data. Please note budgets may be for larger overall departments as it is not possible to separate out the spending on mental health alone
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Bold text shows approximate budgets
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Italicised text shows budgets are for overall departments not just covering mental health
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Underlined text shows change due to outsourcing service
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Complete budgetary information was available for 2016-17 only so the analysis was done for a five year period
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