University of York named the third healthiest uni in the UK

Recent research from the student accommodation search engine, Mystudenthalls.com, has ranked the country’s best universities for supporting healthier student lifestyles placing York third.

York scored 17 points, only one less than Edinburgh and Nottingham in joint first.

The research looks at the specific amenities and activities available to students that are offered across health, fitness and wellness, and the cost for students to access them.

It also looked at how student unions cater for sober students with dedicated societies, and events for overall well-being.

The rankings were determined by using public data around everyday health, fitness and wellness resources, looking at the accessibility of facilities, classes and societies which support a healthy lifestyle, and assigned points reflecting the breadth, number and cost of these, where appropriate.

Points were given for the cost of top-tier student health and fitness membership, the range of facilities available under the top tier health and fitness membership, the number of accessible yoga societies, the number of accessible meditation societies, the number of accessible mindfulness resources (including courses, campaigns, workshops and societies) and the number of societies for sober students/non-drinkers.

York's high placement is partly because it offers mindfulness workshops aimed at helping students with every day pressures faced at university. Whilst for some students, university is an exciting time, for others however, it can be a testing one.

At a time where young people’s mental health is at an all-time low, it is crucial universities continue to implement programmes that aid to support students and their well-being.

York has started to turn its focus on alternative lifestyle choices for students looking to lead healthier lives. This in turn is likely to support academic engagement, participation and success. The research highlights a significant change to the traditional student culture of binge-drinking and unhealthy takeaways suggesting York is an appealing option.

Featured image credit: Arian Kriesch