A 2025 global survey of undergraduate students revealed an alarming number of UK students struggling with their mental health. From a legacy born of the pandemic, to modern day academic, financial and relationship pressures, many students face significant strain, often while living away from home and established friends. It’s a concerning and growing issue for colleges and universities and one demanding a bespoke support service from partners Life & Progress and CiC Wellbeing.
Working together for the past five years, intermediary wellbeing provider Life & Progress manages the relationships with further education clients, with CiC Wellbeing providing the background clinical services. The result is the Student Support & Wellbeing Service: 24/7 professional advice and counselling available to students and staff. A similar Tenant Support & Wellbeing Service is available to residents of local authorities and housing providers.
“The transition from school to further education can be difficult,” explains Dom Grainger, Senior Account Manager at Life & Progress. “Much of the rigid daily structure is lost, and there’s added pressures of studies, exams, money, and building relationships with a whole new mix of people, while possibly living away from home. Worries become amplified but many young people will never have picked up a phone and spoken to a stranger for help before. It’s imperative to have the right people, fully trained professionals, on the other end of the line and that’s why we’re so proud to work with CiC Wellbeing. Their clinical experience and responsiveness is simply second to none.”
ESSENTIAL STUDENT SERVICES
The partners now support 10 further education establishments and in excess of 15,000 students. In-the-moment, confidential support is offered by clinically trained experts answering 24/7 incoming lines, including whistleblowing hotlines. Subsequent face to face or online counselling is also available, while awareness materials are jointly developed to specifically appeal to student populations.
Dom adds: “We’ve moved a long way from mental health being a taboo subject, but awareness is still key. We want young people especially to identify with others talking about mental health and know its OK to seek help.
“A lot of respected wellbeing providers just don’t have the ability to look after smaller organisations, but CiC Wellbeing takes our student populations very seriously. Having that red carpet, VIP treatment for every single one of our clients’ students is where our relationship with CIC Wellbeing really flourishes.”
Sam Watson, International Relationship Manager at CiC Wellbeing adds: “The individual is at the heart of everything we do, we genuinely care about the people we serve.
“Anxieties around exams and finances commonly occur, as do homesickness and trouble making friends. We also note growing trends such as sexual harassment. Our clinical leads are experienced in student stresses and our clinical huddles share clinical approaches and effective referral routes to ensure our advice is relevant and truly personalised.”
EXPANDING SUPPORT
The student and tenant services provided by CiC Wellbeing were originally developed during the pandemic and are now widely adopted by colleges, universities, housing associations, and local authorities across the UK. They form part of a hugely varied client list of more than 200 organisations jointly supported by Life & Progress and CiC Wellbeing.
“We’ve a large and growing client list including universities and colleges and that’s due in no small part to working alongside CiC Wellbeing,” concludes Dom. “We haven’t looked back since joining forces in 2019. We immediately clicked; our cultures and values aligned. CiC Wellbeing very quickly became our preferred partner because we know they give our clients, regardless of their size, the excellent service they deserve.”