How we’re supporting our students

The COVID-19 pandemic has created enormous change in everyone’s lives, including the lives of our students. In addition to the normal stresses of studying at University, our students are anxious about their finances, their future career prospects, their own health, as well as the health and wellbeing of those close to them. Some of them are also balancing their own studies with home schooling their children.

There is a lot for all of us to cope with and in these circumstances it’s perfectly natural for our students to go through a wide range of emotions. Some of our students are feeling bored and lacking motivation, some are feeling frustrated or lonely. There is no right way to feel and the health and wellbeing of everyone in our student community will always be our priority.

During the Autumn Term 1563 individual students accessed support via the Student Wellbeing and Inclusivity Service (SWIS) this is a 42% increase when compared to the same period in 2019. Many of our students are struggling to maintain their mental wellbeing during the pandemic, but we want them to know that there is support available for them. We also want to make sure that all of our staff, including you, know how to help them too.

What support is available to our students?

For students who need someone to talk to we have continued to operate our drop-in service throughout the pandemic. The team are now accessible via Live Chat, and our students are finding this a really useful way to access our support.

We offer counselling sessions to students through our partner organisation Validium. Students can access this counselling by completing an online counselling referral form.

The Accessibility and Wellbeing advisers can provide advice to anyone who may need additional support during their studies, especially regarding mental health or other disabilities. Students can request an individual caseworker if they need to who will remain with them throughout their studies at Essex.

We are also supporting students who are self-isolating through a range of avenues and our friendly Residence Life team host a range of social activities which provide our students with opportunities to meet new friends and make new connections.

Five ways you can help support students

1. Don’t underestimate the importance of asking ‘How are you?”.
2. Support students who are feeling isolated by encouraging them to take a look at the What’s On and SU activities webpages.
3. Make sure they’re getting some exercise and getting outside as much as possible. This is so important for our physical health and mental wellbeing. For those that can’t, Essex Sport are delivering a whole programme on Keeping active at home.
4. Inevitably, some students will experience loss. You can book onto our training course to find out more about how to support bereaved students through grief. You can book this training on HR Organiser.
5. Make sure students know where to go for further support if they need it. We are here to help and can be contacted by emailing wellbe@essex.ac.uk. You can also contact us directly should you have any wellbeing concerns about a student.