Best uni for young woman with ASD, anxiety and depression

[LifeIsAGameofMonopoly]

DD has dropped out of Bristol uni due in part to extremely poor pastoral care.
If anyone has got any recommendations for unis which have got really good support for neurodiverse students, I would be extremely grateful to hear this. (And if any unis to avoid also!)
She likes the sea, and doesn't want to be too far from the family home (we are Berkshire) she has been thinking about Brighton or possibly Bournemouth.
She is 21, so maybe also any unis that have a good proportion of mature students. I understand that Birkbeck is for mature students but I don't know how mature... She would like to be with people who are in their 20s.
Thank you very much 😊

if it wasn’t too far I’d say Lancaster. The college system can be really supportive and it’s only a small town/campus

University of Surrey seems to have good pastoral care. If it’s at all possible I’d recommend a uni where your Dd can live at home and commute. If not, then one close enough to go home at weekends or whenever she needs support.

Birkbeck was mentioned up thread. I've no idea about the courses etc, but I do know that both prof Nancy Doyle and Prof Almuth McDowell are both heavily affiliated with the institute. Both women are neurodivergent and have done a huge amount of research in Nd in adults. Wonderful women and role models.

I obviously don't know what it is that made Bristol poor in terms of pastoral care in your daughter's case, but I'd think in any university there would be a high proportion of young women with autism and/or anxiety and depression, and most would be set up to be supportive.

Swansea might also be worth considering. Very close to the sea and has good student support.

The best pastoral care comes from you. Can she study living at home? A uni in your town, or Open University

Why does she want to go to university?

She seems very undecided on a degree subject so I'm assuming from that there isn't a goal of a specific career she's working towards, so what is she wanting to get from it?

If it's a stressful and difficult environment for her, then it seems like a very expensive way to spend a few years.

Also in what way was the previous university unsatisfactory, what support was missing that would have helped her and made it possible for her to stay?

We had an excellent experience of pastoral support at Bristol so I am sorry it didn't work out for your daughter. For this reason I would say other people's experience at other unis may not match your own. Would a gap year perhaps be better so that she could start over when she is in better mental health?

My daughter is at Bournemouth and has had a fab time (third year now).

No such thing unfortunately. At least not in the UK.

Does she get PIP as that could be used to for eg pay extra rent for a studio so doesn’t have share / help with organisation or cleaning etc / a buddy (which could even be employing another student many of who will have ND siblings). I wouldn’t necessarily rely on the uni support being enough. Getting a social care Care Act assessment also.

My dd has AuDHD and is currently taking a year out after not getting an offer she felt confident about. She did nearly accept her Bath offer though. I was really encouraged that students can indicate their additional needs on their accommodation form and can specify that they would like 'quiet' housing ie a flat with others who have this preference.

Bath doesn't do Eng Lit or anything at all similar OP!

I know what you mean about Reading but I have to say I agree with PPs that being close to home is important, especially if she has dropped out once. And Reading is genuinely really good.

I do have experience of this as a teacher and through my DSs as well - very anxious students do better near home.

That said, DS's friend dropped out of Keele and went to Lincoln and did the three years there. Lincoln is quite small and user friendly.

Maybe university isn't right for her and she should try working or an apprenticeship. Doing a degree in drama or media isn't likely to be money well spent over her lifetime, and leave her in mountains of debt with limited career prospects

I’m old, live in Dorset and although Bournemouth town centre is a bit run down with many empty shops these days, I don’t recognise it as somewhere especially violent! Can be quite lively in the Summer with loads of students from UK and overseas, but it has lovely beaches and great water sport facilities.

It’s Bath spa uni that offers eng lit ….though I would echo others in actually digging down more into whether uni is the right fit for her and what caused her to drop out.

Thank you all so much for your replies - really appreciated reading all of them xx

In terms of why does she want to go to uni? She just wants to get a degree. I know you don't need a degree (and you accrue student debt in the process etc.!) but I am supporting her choice to study.

She's definitely not interested in being at a research-heavy RG Uni.

In terms of what went wrong... I was surprised because Bristol is so big so would have a sizeable amount of ND students but they were just totally dispassionate towards her. She needed help filling out the form for getting student disability services; they wouldn't speak to her till she had filled out the form so it was a catch 22. I rang them to say I was concerned on more than one occasion and they said they couldn't talk to me. I wasn't asking for information about her, I wanted to give them information. So it was not a GDPR issue. But they kept saying it was. They wouldn't let her move to a different hall of residence until she'd been there 6 weeks. There was some serious bullying issues in her flat (which shocked me as they were all adults and should've known better) but they would not deviate from this time period as the students had to "prove" they couldn't settle into their flat. DD wasn't not settling, she was being picked on by some very mean students. She eventually did move halls and made friends but it was too late and damage done.

In terms of myself providing the best pastoral support I really did try but it was virtually impossible to do it at arm's length.

She will be taking this year as a gap year and hopefully will recover by the end of it but we are starting to think about UCAS etc for next year

Thanks everyone again will definitely look at some of the smaller unis which sound like they may be a better fit x

That sounds tough OP. I have definitley heard this a fair amount about Bristol so hopefully she will flourish elsewhere.

I have committed the cardinal MN sin of not reading the full thread 😁 so it might have been mentioned, but Brunel was amazing for my DD. She has much the same as your DD, and dyspraxia too. She did "something about film" with a fancy name 😁
She would never have made it to graduation anywhere else. They had so much help in place, and told us all about what was available to make sure she didn't miss out on anything.
Things like, there's a scheme where students can get extra IT things - devices, software, gadgets, even study furniture, but normally the student has to pay a "token fee" (as the government put it - £200!!! and the uni paid that too, and she got to keep all the stuff.
They had (in DDs words) "like a Nanna lady" who checked in at least once a week by phone or zoom, to just chat, and help her with time management, revision schedules, even would ask if she'd eaten anything/been shopping/done her laundry (but really nicely, in conversation iykwim)
When she moved out, the estates staff came with golf carts to help with her stuff.
Honestly, they were really good, even before she arrived on campus.
We're several hundred miles away, and they really helped us not worry as much about her.

Chichester used to be good - small and caring. Not sure about recent years.

Bath is awful for pastoral care!

I don't know Nancy, but do know Almuth amd she is fantastic.

Leeds has been outstanding for my DD with ADHD and anxiety. They have gone over and above what we could have imagined in terms of pastoral care. She is doing a degree in modern languages there.

I didn't find that, but I was there a long time ago so may have changed since then. In York's favour, however, the college system (yet on a campus - or two now) was good for making everyone feel like they had a 'place'. Small city was also nice and un-intimidating.

Oh wow this sounds great! Thanks very much indeed 🥰 it sounds just like what DD needs. My DD is dyspraxic also 🙂 x