Mental Health and Wellbeing Survey

The King’s Wellbeing Survey is our first attempt to measure student mental wellbeing across the whole institution. It grew from King’s concern for student wellbeing during the pandemic, and interest in how students engage with their studies beyond attainment. What Works collaborated with colleagues from Student Success and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience to build the survey which uses a combination of clinical and nonclinical scales to represent the complex nature of mental wellbeing.

With over 5,000 full responses, the What Works team identified statistically significant findings. Whilst variation in wellbeing outcomes vary by faculty, negative wellbeing outcomes are most associated to a series of demographic characteristics. This is most pronounced for LGBTQ+ and disabled students but females, students from underrepresented backgrounds and non-mature students with caring responsibilities also reported significantly poorer mental health.

Male students, mature students, and international students were more likely to report positive wellbeing outcomes.

We will collect data on an annual basis to track the wellbeing of students from enrolment to graduation. From this data, we will gather insights to inform both the university’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy and the design of student facing services