The Student Experience Podcast

The prospect of going to university can be terrifying and exciting all at the same time, and this has possibly never been the case more so than in the current global context. This first part of a two part feature looks at some top tips to prepare yourself for university, and will be followed closely by part two which sees us talking through some of the thoughts and feelings you might find yourself facing once you arrive.

More information about the support services we offer at the University of Chester is available here.

You can follow the latest about Induction and Welcome Week via Instagram @uoc_induction

We really welcome any feedback, comments or questions about the podcast. You can contact us on [email protected] or via Instagram @uoc.happyhealthylife

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In this podcast we discuss A Level results day, and some of the thoughts, feelings and unanswered questions that prospective students might have about University. This year some of these questions are potentially more pertinent than ever as the country starts to come to terms with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and we transition into the new normal.

With all this in mind, we thought we would share a few tips on the Clearing process and discuss a little bit about what it's like to study at University.

More information about Clearing at the University of Chester is available here.
More information about the support services we offer is available here.

We really welcome any feedback, comments or questions about the podcast. You can contact us on [email protected] or via Instagram @uoc.happyhealthylife

Follow University of Chester Student Shout Out on:

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Finishing University and contemplating ‘what comes next’ can often be a stressful time. Even before Covid-19, our current generation of graduates were facing a number of unprecedented challenges. 

So with that in mind, how can we be employable and maintain our wellbeing when the world around us is so uncertain?

In this podcast Nicola Davenport (Careers Consultant, University of Chester) joins us to reflect on our own experiences as graduates, and share some tips on employability. We also talk about some of the support available to students within the University.

As always we welcome any feedback, comments, questions or suggestions for future podcast topics. Please contact us at [email protected] or via Instagram @uoc.happyhealthylife

For more information about the support offered by Careers & Employability you can take a look at:

Graduate Head Start Summer Enrichment Programme
Career Hub

You can also contact Careers at [email protected] or on social media:

Twitter
Instagram
Facebook
LinkedIn

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In this podcast we talk about some of our thoughts and feelings as lockdown eases. As the world starts to return to 'normality', what does that mean for our wellbeing and mental health?

Mind have reported that two out of three (65%) adults over 25 and three quarters (75%) of young people aged 13-24 with an existing mental health problem reported worse mental health during the pandemic. That’s on top of the fact that more than one in five adults (22%) with no previous experience of poor mental health now say that their mental health is poor or very poor. 

According to a Yougov survey only 9% of the population would favour a total return to pre-lockdown life.

The media have been using the term ‘coronaphobia’ a lot which is the fear of returning to normality once lockdown eases.

These points underpin the complexity of people’s feelings about life as lockdown begins to ease here in the UK and beyond, and shine a light on the numerous and complex longer term issues that will emerge from the pandemic. A lot of us have been reflecting on how we lived prior to the restrictions of lockdown being implemented. We might have realised we were lacking balance in areas of our lives, and perhaps anxious now about how to maintain our new found approaches when things go back to ‘normal’. 

If you have any feedback, questions or comments about the podcast we would love to hear from you! You can reach us on [email protected]

Instagram: @uoc.happyhealthylife

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The theme of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week is ‘kindness’. In this podcast we discuss the benefits of kindness, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the importance of self-compassion to our own wellbeing. We also discuss stigma and some of the statistics relating to mental health, and how our University and others are working hard to deliver services and build a culture that promotes positive mental health.

We would welcome feedback, queries and suggestions from staff and students about the content of these podcasts. Please contact us at [email protected]

Further information on our services:

University of Chester website

University of Chester Portal (internal for staff and students)

Links to some of the statistics and resources discussed in this episode:

·       Mental Health Foundation

·       Student Minds

·       Mental Health Charter

·       Universities UK #stepchange

·       Office for Students

·       In 2007-2008 just 1260 postgraduates and 8415 undergraduates sought support for mental health difficulties. In 2016-2017 this had increased to 8040 postgraduates and 49,265 undergraduates. Minding our future: Universities UK 

·       Mental health conditions account for an increasing proportion of all disability disclosed by first-year students (17 per cent in 2015/16, compared to 5 per cent in 2006/07). 

·       Female first-year students are more likely than male first year students to disclose a mental health condition (2.5 per cent compared to 1.4 per cent) (2015/16). 

·       In 2009/10, male and female students were equally likely to disclose a mental health condition (both 0.5 per cent). Not by degrees: Improving student mental health in the UK’s universities 

·       In the 12 months to July 2017, figures from the ONS revealed that 95 students had taken their own lives, which equates to 4.7 suicides per 100,000 students. 

·       However, tragically, it also showed that suicide rates among university students in England and Wales had gone up slightly over the last decade. 

·       In addition, it highlighted that young male students are significantly more likely to die by suicide than female students – which follows national trends in the wider population. Office for national statistics

·       Over a quarter of UK students (37%) are experiencing their state of mental wellbeing changing for the worse since starting higher education Randstad, 2020

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The idea of 'future' is interesting. We know the future is impossible to predict, but often we try to do just that. Currently people might be thinking a lot about the future - whether that's related to what the world will be like after Covid-19, or more personal reflections on what we'd like our own futures to be. In Podcast 2 we discuss our thoughts in the hope we might answer some questions - or at least reassure people they aren't the only ones with questions!

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Ella Mosby (Mental Health Advisor, University of Chester) and David Clarke (Student Support Coordinator, University Centre Shrewsbury/University of Chester) discuss the impact of the current Coronavirus situation on mental health, and ways we can take care of our wellbeing during lockdown.

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