King’s is the 12th best uni in the country for mental health services

KCL is the twelfth best uni in the country for helping students with mental health issues, according to our recently released Mental Health Rankings 2017.

The rankings also found that only four university's spent more per student on their counselling and wellbeing services than KCL's £36.80.

Mental health is a huge topic at King's; we all know someone who has used the services, and many students have petitioned for change in the way services are organised and distributed amongst students

The Tab's Mental Health Rankings 2017 is, in part, a response to the debate and stigma around this. It's the only study to assess UK universities' ability to care for students with mental health issues.

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.We're aiming to paint the truest picture of mental health at university, and how it's handled.

Only five universities spent more per student than King's, and 10 spent more per applicant to the university’s services. Our findings show that King's spent £36.80 per student, above the national average of £22.06, and £387.48 per applicant, above the average of £325.90.

As a result, the finance score is 24.25 of a possible 40. The national average was 17.29.

For satisfaction, King's ranked 38 out of 47 in our survey. King's scored 32.60 of a possible 40, against a national average of 34.55. Of the 15 universities to return data for waiting times, King's came joint twelfth, which overall meant King's was ranked 25 of 47.

In response to the results, a King’s College London spokesperson said: ‘King’s is committed to providing high quality mental health support for students, as well as a range of wellbeing promotion activities to help students improve their wellbeing while at university.

"As the whole of the higher education sector is finding, our mental health support services are in high demand and at certain times of the year waiting times may increase.

"We manage waiting lists through measures such as improved triage and same day appointments with our mental health advisors so that support is available when this is required.

"In the same way that we all have physical health, we all have mental health. And how well we feel, both physically and mentally, can vary from day to day.

"Because we know that the small choices we make throughout the day have a fundamental impact on our wellbeing, we also are one of a small number of universities to invest in a team of Wellbeing Coaches – a team which works across all of our campuses, engaging students in proactive, preventative work around their wellbeing and thereby enhancing their ability to succeed academically."