A new ranking has revealed which university cities are the best for providing mental health and wellbeing support to students, according to an independent regulator.
The ranking, created by Vegetology, analysed ratings from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) for GP and mental health services in each city, and scaled the number of services against the local population to identify where providers are likely to be overstretched.
Each city was then assigned a score out of ten based on four key factors – mental health service availability and quality, and GP availability and quality – with Newcastle crowned top.
The CQC rates healthcare services on a four-point scale, ranging from ‘inadequate,’ where enforcement action is taken to combat bad performance, to ‘outstanding,’ when a service performs exceptionally well. ‘Good’ and ‘requires improvement’ sit between both.
However, the quality of mental health services is only one element of receiving adequate care, with availability another key concern – especially given that 1.3 million patients reportedly wait more than four weeks to see a doctor after booking an appointment.
Healthcare providers that have to service a larger proportion of the local population are more likely to suffer from lengthy wait times – which may leave students and adults with mental health struggles waiting on the sidelines for months at a time.
This is concerning given that a recent survey from Mental Health UK found that almost half (42%) of university students have had a serious personal, emotional, behavioural, or mental health problem – such as depression or anxiety – which required professional help.
Luckily for students in Newcastle, there’s a higher proportion of mental health services and GPs compared to the local population than there is elsewhere, with the city ranking second overall for provider availability – coming just behind Manchester as the frontrunner.
The city also benefits from some of the highest-rated GPs, with just four within a 10-mile radius of the centre considered inadequate or needing improvement. This pales in comparison to the 16 that are rated outstanding and the 137 that are considered good.
Mental health services are also of a high standard in the city – although slightly less so than GPs – with the majority rated good and none currently considered inadequate.
Following behind Newcastle as the second-best city for student mental health support is Manchester, largely due to the higher availability of providers compared to the population.
According to the CQC, there are a huge 47 mental health services and 415 GPs within a 10-mile radius of the city centre, which is considerably more (83%) than there are in Bradford (23 mental health services and 229 GPs) despite the similar population size.
However, the city is let down by the quality of these mental health services, with 21% rated ‘good’ and almost a quarter (23%) considered inadequate or needing improvement.
The third-best university city is Preston, which performed second-best overall for provider availability. Unlike Newcastle, the city boasts higher-quality mental health services than GPs.
The Ten Best Cities For Student Mental Health Support Ranked
Overall Score | MHS* Quality | MHS Availability | GP Quality | GP Availability | |
Newcastle | 7.9 /10 | 5.9 | 9.2 | 6.8 | 9.9 |
Manchester | 7.7 /10 | 3.5 | 10.0 | 7.3 | 10.0 |
Preston | 7.7 /10 | 6.2 | 9.7 | 5.1 | 9.7 |
Birmingham | 7.6 /10 | 6.0 | 9.4 | 5.9 | 9.1 |
Liverpool | 7.5 /10 | 6.3 | 9.4 | 4.8 | 9.7 |
Nottingham | 7.2 /10 | 3.5 | 9.0 | 7.0 | 9.3 |
Bath | 7.2 /10 | 5.0 | 8.6 | 5.5 | 9.7 |
Cambridge | 7.1 /10 | 4.8 | 9.1 | 5.3 | 9.1 |
Southampton | 7.0 /10 | 5.2 | 8.5 | 5.2 | 9.2 |
Hull | 7.0 /10 | 5.2 | 8.9 | 5.4 | 8.3 |
*MHS = mental health service
On the other end of the scale, the city that performed the poorest for student support was Lancaster, which was let down by its GP availability. Surprisingly, there are only 7 GPs within a 10-mile radius of the city centre – which doesn’t go far considering its 142.9k population.
Meanwhile, London came out as the city with the lowest-rated GPs, with a huge 64 providers needing improvement, while Leeds has the poorest-rated mental health services.
The area that most cities needed to improve in was the quality of mental health services (with each averaging a score of 4.9 out of ten) – suggesting the majority of the UK’s providers need to reevaluate how they treat patients in need of support.
The Ten Worst Cities For Student Mental Health Support Ranked
Overall Score | MHS* Quality | MHS Availability | GP Quality | GP Availability | |
Lancaster | 3.5 /10 | 5.0 | 3.8 | 5.1 | 0.0 |
Peterborough | 4.2 /10 | 5.0 | 0.0 | 4.8 | 7.1 |
Durham | 4.4 /10 | 5.1 | 0.3 | 5.6 | 6.7 |
London | 5.4 /10 | 6.9 | 2.1 | 4.8 | 7.8 |
York | 5.8 /10 | 3.4 | 8.9 | 5.4 | 5.6 |
Leeds | 6.1 /10 | 3.2 | 6.3 | 5.9 | 8.8 |
Plymouth | 6.2 /10 | 5.2 | 7.3 | 5.0 | 7.2 |
Derby | 6.2 /10 | 5.2 | 4.4 | 6.6 | 8.8 |
Bristol | 6.6 /10 | 5.1 | 7.1 | 5.7 | 8.4 |
Brighton | 6.6 /10 | 5.5 | 7.1 | 5.3 | 8.5 |
*MHS = mental health service
Speaking on the findings, wellness expert Chris Smith – founder of Vegetology – said: “Starting university is a huge transition for young adults, and now that the exhilaration and excitement of starting somewhere new is starting to fade, it’s likely that many students are now struggling to cope with the stress, low mood, and anxiety that comes with university life.
“Whether it’s due to increased academic workload, money worries, or difficulties ‘fitting in,’ some students will need to seek help to manage their mental health. But to get the support they need, students will need to be able to access good-quality treatment within an adequate timeframe – something that doesn’t look likely in cities like Lancaster and Peterborough.
“Universities have a responsibility to evaluate the mental health provisions in their local area and address the shortfalls – either by offering a free in-house counselling service, or partnering with a local GP to make it easier for students to prioritise their mental wellbeing.”