University and college counselling services in Scotland: One-on-one counselling amid the student mental health crisis

Abstract

Introduction

Scotland is facing a student mental health crisis. With 60% of university students and 54% of college students reporting moderate-to-severe symptoms of depression in recent research (Maguire & Cameron, 2022; Maguire et al., 2022), Scottish university and college counselling services have emerged as an indispensable source of support for students. Although counselling services may be involved in many activities, one of their primary functions is to provide one-on-one counselling to students experiencing mental health difficulties.

Objective

This study aimed to provide a better understanding of the challenges facing Scottish university and college counselling services in providing effective and accessible one-on-one counselling.

Methods

We filed Freedom of Information requests to all 27 registered colleges and 19 Scottish universities to request quantitative data on their counselling services.

Results and Discussion

We identified three key challenges facing university and college counselling services. First, we demonstrate that demand for college and university counselling services has rapidly increased over the past decade, resulting in longer waiting times for one-on-one counselling at several institutions. Second, we demonstrate that male students and first-year students are underrepresented in counselling, which may reflect structural barriers in accessing counselling support. Lastly, we found that even though most university and college counselling services are not designed to offer long-term counselling support for ‘at-risk students’, few institutions have set up external referral pathways into community mental health teams. The college and university sector must address these challenges to ensure equitable access for effective counselling support for all students.