Glasgow uni has the longest waiting times for mental health services in our Mental Health Rankings

According to our Mental Health Rankings 2017

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The Tab's Mental Health Rankings 2017 have found that Glasgow has the longest average waiting times for mental health services.

Of the 15 universities to return data for waiting times, Glasgow fared worst.

The data, collected through Freedom of Information requests, forms part of the rankings which put Glasgow as the 43rd best university overall, of 47 in the rankings.

The Tab's Mental Health Rankings is the only study to assess UK universities' ability to care for students with mental health issues. You can see the rankings in full here.

Now in their second year, the rankings cover 47 universities across the country. They pull together information about how well universities fund their mental health services, how long students have to wait for help, and how satisfied students are with their university's mental health services.

Over 9,000 students completed our mental health survey this year and told us about their experiences. Universities have a duty of care for their students, and mental health falls squarely under this. The rankings aim to paint the truest picture of mental health at university, and how it's handled.

The rankings' findings show that Glasgow uni spent only £19.31 per student on their counselling and wellbeing services, compared to Strathclyde who spent £5.72 – the lowest in the entire country. We found that the national average is £22.06 per student. The national average for money spent per applicant was £334.28, and again both universities fell significantly below this figure with Glasgow uni spending £230.95 and Strathclyde spending £216.47.

As a result, Glasgow uni scored 16.41 of a possible 40 for finance, and 32.39 for satisfaction, both scores which again fall significantly below the national averages. Of the 15 universities to return data for waiting times, Glasgow scored bottom. Overall, Glasgow ranked 43rd out of 47, with Strathclyde narrowly following at 46th.

In response to the rankings, a spokesperson for the University of Glasgow said: “Student welfare is paramount to the University of Glasgow. We have invested heavily in our mental health provision and recently committed an additional £200,000 in our budget for this and subsequent academic years in Counselling and Psychological Services. This investment was announced just after we published a comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan, a joint initiative with the Students’ Representative Council. The University has made clear that we will make more resources available, over and above this amount, to support the implementation of the Mental Health Action Plan if this is required.

"The Mental Health Working Group, which includes strong student representation, will keep the situation under review and will have lead responsibility for identifying any additional needs.

"There is no uniform approach to the provision of counselling and mental health services – different universities operate different policies according to their size and the demands identified. At the University of Glasgow we have both expanded our general counselling and psychological service but also put emphasis on dealing with the most acute cases. Our Priority Response programme allows for up to six appointments per day for students in crisis. Last year, we provided more than 950 such appointments. Students can make these appointments online on the day, or by direct contact with the Counselling and Psychological Services office.

"Our most recent statistics (1 August – 1 November 2017) for general counselling appointments show that 88% of referrals were seen within three weeks, and that 55% more students have been assessed compared to the same period in the previous academic year. Our figures also show that almost 40% fewer students are waiting for assistance compared to the same time in the last academic year.”