Your Stories.

My STEM son (lifelong A’s) got an unkind anonymous letter threatening failure — anonymously — from his university’s non-existent “Academic Studies” department. Fearless student “services” staff’s revenge after we noticed same student (dis)-“services” missed a large bursary payment to him after Christmas — ruined his credit file and his ability for focused study (difficult STEM subject he was always good at before). He then got bedridden by flu (lack of food). Impactful, career-ending, costly big, and unnecessary retaliation , with no consequences whatsoever for the university. This family is devastated.

I’ve had a tough summer mentally and I’ve had to balance trying to finish my last assignments so that I can graduate but it’s been so difficult to do so. I’ve been trying to push though and the university haven’t been any help at all or offered any mental health support - they keep telling me to decelerate and push back my assignments when really and truly, I just want to graduate and finish. It’s now left me with very negative thoughts and a lot of anxious thinking. I’m starting to give up and not think Ill be able to finish uni once and for all.

I feel very let down by my son's university. During his first term he suffered a lot of illness. He had to call 999 in the end. His mental health took a real dip as his physical illness meant he got behind in his work. There seemed to be no one in the university checking in with him. When he was physically and mentally poorly he was expected to wake up, and book a wellbeing appointment. Often he just didn't wake up in time, and by the time he did all the appointments had gone. Finally he got to see someone and after the summer contacted them again, only to be told that he had to go through the whole referral process again. Universities are quick to take students money but the duty of care is so lacking.

I started at Bristol last year, I was so excited and so proud that I’d managed to get into such a ‘good’ uni. However I was put in an accomodation very off campus and very quickly felt very isolated. Additionally my course was only 6 hours a week which is such a short amount of time and left me with nothing to do, and made me feel even more isolated. I asked for help from the uni multiple times, I requested to move accommodation around 10 times, and nobody did anything to help me out of my situation and I was stuck where I was. It felt like the uni were just ignoring my problems and didn’t care at all, and it got so bad that by Christmas I had to drop out for my own mental health. I did not feel comfortable or safe going to a university that had no care whatsoever for my wellbeing.

I contacted the university and I was told that as he was over 18 I had no rights and he would have to ask for support himself I faced a slammed door this university is an absolute disgrace at the end of the day out children are our children I stood by mine told him to get out he came home and was cared for he has since gone on to receive a first class honours degree at home in a secure environment something Sheffield Hallam failed on and has failed too many students. If I ever dare mention that place to my son a darkness comes over him - so I don’t the societies need addressing my son as a rugby player joined the rugby team his initiation was to down a bottle of spirit on the bus and bring a bin bag - he was scared he loved the sport but his father is an alcoholic for him to have to do that without being ridiculed was a daunting fact we talked and I said go for red port replace it with blackcurrant juice but leave a little or port so it smells so they don’t catch you out rub the cork in the port and the top of the bottle so smells of port this was the anxiety my son went through there

It cost him a year of tuition fees and rent and nearly his life this university needs to be held accountable

In my first year of university I struggled a lot with my mental health and as a result was sectioned under the mental health act. I was given no support with this and received low marks as a result of missing lectures etc. in my assignments. I was forced to drop out and retake the year due to given no help. I then went back to university as I knew I could do better and found myself pregnant while retaking my second first year.

As a single parent and disabled student, I was given no support from my university to assist me with accommodation and therefore had to find a private landlord and live in a single room with a cot bed for my daughter . The only thing the uni said they could do was to offer me a 3 bed property for a well over the odds price of over £1200 a month which was completely unaffordable. As a result I was significantly disadvantaged from my peers and there was no support for me as a single student parent except for my DSA funding where I received a mentor. Without this I’m not sure I would have passed.

I am 90 years old. I was at Somerville college 1952 to 1955. The dons meant well but had no idea of how to lend any kind of help to their students which was not academic. A friend of mine only just survived the pressure and suffered a lot through anxiety about her academic performance success with men etc. It is shocking that nothing has changed. Wake up teachers and lend your students the support you could so easily supply.