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Wonkhe SUs · The 2026 webinar box set

Making a difference on mental health

What you need to know about the student movement's most popular manifesto topic.

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We treat mental health as the ultimate "wicked problem" in higher education and work through what the data tells us, the tension between community-building and waiting times, and the big debates over where the line between the NHS and the university falls. We cover the Cibyl 2025 findings, the national review of student suicide deaths and the case for a duty of candour, the DfE taskforce and HE–NHS partnerships, and the levers SUs can actually pull. Please note: this session discusses suicide and student mental health. If you are affected, support is available any time from Samaritans (call 116 123, free) and Student Space (studentspace.org.uk).

What we cover

  • The ultimate policy issue – why mental health is a "wicked problem" that resists the simple textbook fixes leaders reach for.
  • What the data says – low student wellbeing, high expectations of support, and where responsibility is thought to lie.
  • Cibyl 2025 – four in five students impacted by mental health, money as the dominant driver, and where students actually turn for support.
  • Community versus waiting times – balancing direct and indirect support, with social anxiety as a major obstacle.
  • The big debates – funding for loneliness, the NHS–university line, regulation, entitlements and measuring effectiveness.
  • The Student Mental Health Charter – a whole-university approach, the award scheme, and whether your university has signed up.
  • The national review of student suicide deaths – what NCISH found, including academic pressure, non-attendance and gaps in follow-up.
  • Duty of candour – the #ForThe100 campaign, and turning the review's recommendations into pressure rather than patience.
  • HE–NHS partnerships – the blurry line students fall through, and what good collaboration looks like.
  • Levers to pull – access and participation plans, the taskforce recommendations, and "snog, marry, avoid" on coping, solving and avoiding the problem.

Things to read

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