A whole university approach to student mental health support and investigation of key social and educational factors linked to student wellbeing.

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Student mental health and wellbeing is an area of growing concern in higher education nationally and internationally. My PhD was the first study of its kind to evaluate the impact of an innovative change in student welfare provision - research which I carried out at a large UK university after a number of highly publicised student deaths. This fellowship will bridge the gap between my doctoral studies and my future research aim to focus on social and environmental determinants of student wellbeing in relation to educational outcomes. This work has become particularly relevant after the unprecedented disruption faced by young people and the higher education (HE) sector in the aftermath of Covid-19. The fellowship will allow me to disseminate key findings from my PhD - 'A whole university approach to improving student mental health and wellbeing: Mixed-methods evaluation of a new university wellbeing service' to student, parent, mental health professional and policy audiences and to publish these important findings in academic journals. The fellowship is also an opportunity for me to forge new networks, develop my research skills and cement my future research plans. I intend to maintain the strong stakeholder engagement I have built during my PhD to involve: Bristol students and academics, UK university leaders, clinicians and education professionals, and other UK researchers and institutions via national networks such as Universities UK, Student Minds and SMARTEN - a UKRI-funded national student mental health research network. In addition to offering novel insight into welfare support for 'whole university' populations, my PhD findings also mirrored previous mental health and wellbeing research highlighting significant inequalities between different student groups. My future research ambitions are to build on this work, examining longitudinal academic outcomes such as course drop-out and attainment in relation to mental wellbeing and student characteristics, and educational and social factors such as disability, socio-economic status and ethnicity. As such, the fellowship offers a springboard for me to scope the feasibility of using a University of Bristol wellbeing dataset which spans six years 2018-2023 to examine these inequalities. Creating new relationships with social scientists, public health experts and HE providers across the sector will also allow me to explore the possibility of a future, multi-site student wellbeing study across the UK.Greater understanding of potential predictors of student mental wellbeing and academic outcomes is vital for directing institutional (and NHS) resource, maximising positive outcomes for students and addressing inequalities. Higher education is an environment in which both targeted and universally applied population health measures can have a significant impact on young people's mental health and wellbeing, and consequently their futures.