More help needs to be given. And I really believe the mental health issues have escalated since the introduction of 9k tuition fees
So, "more help" From whom?
Lecturers? We're not trained in MH. We should not be advising
Counselling services? What other things would you like to cut from already underfunded universities to provide more counselling?
I think students are often underprepared for university: they are pushed and helicoptered by parents all the way through school; their teachers are under pressure to teach so that pupils "achieve" results.
Just look at this forum on MN and all the AIBUs and posts in other education sections of MN about people's PFBs. I think some parents really need to have a good hard think & self-reflection about how they are complicit in a system which catapults so many young people into these states of anxiety and depression.
When I was an undergraduate 30 years ago, we didn't have fees, but only 15% of the population went to university. There was far less active "teaching" of the kind increasingly demanded - if I had a pound for every parent who asks me at an Open Day about contact hours, I could retire tomorrow. In my undergrad courses, we got on with it, we searched for stuff in the Library, we worked in study groups, we self-started. I had a fantastic education, in part because I was ready for the challenge.
I didn't see university as an extension of school. I knew that I'd be lonely at times, but that I was in a whole new world of interesting bright people, who also were committed to studying as I was. I saw university as a way of stepping into a bigger global world with many opportunities (and this was during a time of national economic uncertainty if you remember). And I was 17 when I went up, to a large competitive world-leading university. I revelled in it. I didn't always get First class marks - I was happy with low 2, i marks because I knew I was learning and that that would pay off. It did, eventually. But it took a deal of guts and taking risks.
So you know, I don't think it's actually harder nowadays; it's not easier either, just that the challenges are different. And parent really need to think about that, and look at their roles in preparing their children.