Student mental health action plan: equality impact assessment results

Executive summary

The Student Mental Health Action Plan (the ‘Action Plan’), which builds on the broader Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy (June 2023) and its companion documents, the Mental Health and Wellbeing Workforce Action Plan (November 2023) and the Mental Health and Wellbeing Delivery Plan (November 2023), seeks to further support student mental health and wellbeing, in a trauma-informed way.

It recognises the critical importance of early intervention and prevention, ensuring effective access to a diverse range of community-based services, and providing timely clinical acute care for those who require it.

The Student Mental Health Action Plan and its five actions are informed by Public Health Scotland’s Three Levels of Prevention. The five actions are:

Action One: Better access to local and national prevention and early intervention services

Action Two: Robust institution-wide planning, local cooperation, and support for students through Think Positive and Student Mental Health Agreements.

Action Three: Facilitate and enhance access to mental health resources and training for all university, college and PBSA staff to continue to become mental health aware.

Action Four: Explore mechanisms to improve data sharing between schools, colleges and universities.

Action Five: Better access to clinical support and acute services.

The Action Plan is informed by research, in particular, the Thriving Learners research which sets out the significant impact of mental health challenges on students. Nearly three-quarters of university students, for example, reported low wellbeing, over a third experienced moderately severe or severe symptoms of depression, and nearly half felt the need for professional help due to a serious psychological issue. A similar trend was observed in a 2022 Mental Health Foundation survey of college students.