Unis with excellent pastoral care

[pasta]

Hallo, I have two questions. The first is any steer on which universities have really excellent pastoral care for an ND child with a history of poor mental health. They are super bright and ambitious, but realistically, there is likely to be a crash at some point. This is for a STEM subject tbc. We are based in the south, so ideally not too far north.

The second is, what exactly should we be asking about on open days to establish this? I would love some advice on good questions so that we can make an informed decision.

Feeling a bit at sea with this, so I'd be v grateful for any advice.

Tbh I’d go for any that are commutable from home. That way if living out doesn’t work then they can commute.
universities aren’t schools. There is a limit to the support they can give and it isn’t 24/7

There is a Facebook group for parents of neurodiverse students that may be helpful.
You also need to look at claiming dsa of possible.
The problem.with recommendations at uni level is that some support is given at uni level but is down to the academic department.
If possible, talk to both and open days to see how understanding they are!

The difficulty is that people don’t go to university as children - they attend as young adults. As such, it is the prospective student who needs to be asking the questions, and the prospective student who ultimately makes the decision about where to apply to and which offer to accept.

Essentially and brutally so that we can make an informed decision just isn’t how it works. The university will engage with the student. So, as pp has indicated, if the prospective student is likely to need a great deal of parental input during their undergraduate years, they’ll have to be willing to live at or close to home, and to keep their parents informed - because this isn’t compulsory.

You could see if they are signed up to/ have been awarded the university mental health charter

see also https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/student-advice/where-to-study/best-universities-for-disabled-students

on open days, ask to talk to student support/ well-being/ inclusive support staff the people who actually do these jobs. Or leave your details and ask for a call back from an advisor to discuss.

Re particular questions, ask about what personal tutor system they have in place. Some allocate a tutor but it is up to students if they go and see them, others allocate regular sessions to catch up. Some barely have a system! Having a regular point of contact can be really important in developing an understanding of need and having someone to advocate where needed.
Ask about exams / coursework / group work - students find different assessment types good or bad.

Ask about Freshers and accommodation - can they move in on a different day perhaps? What do they do as additional support for Freshers? Are they guaranteed accomodation for first year or all years?

The best option might be to choose a local university and live at home.
Starting university comes with a lot of changes and stress, which would be better avoided for your daughter.

Thanks, this is really helpful. They are looking at the one university near us and my instinct is that that's the one they should go to, it is perfectly good and also achievable.

I completely take on board the fact that universities can only do so much. I think dc will struggle to ask for help and so we will need to be closely involved. They're going to want to put five on UCAS along with everyone else, but this will stop me getting carried away with other options.

Be aware that the university will be unlikely to communicate with you directly. They will communicate with the student, even if consent is given.

The contract is with the student, and universities usually take the stance that students are adults and should be doing the communicating.

Sheffield has been voted the top university for student support this year. Can't remember which league table though as there's so many different ones!

I think it will vary on the needs of the child. Another possibility to consider is if they are young for their age/currently with poor mental health then a year out before starting could be used to gain skills, independence and improve mental health. Depends on child and would start local/home based and if they get more confident try further away when they can come back easily.

I don't know if it still exists but there used to be a year in industry scheme for stem / engineering which did a year's work experience pre university and could stay living at home - something like this but if you want to consider this route other people will know more than me:

https://www.etrust.org.uk/placements

Most universities are in the process of making drastic cuts to staff and services. I think you can expect pastoral support to get much worse at most universities over the next couple of years (it already has got worse at several), and a few universities will close or merge anyway unless something changes dramatically re funding. I wouldn't make any decisions based on what they do currently.

Really good points and confirming my instinct that they need to be in commutable distance.

There is no need for your dc to put down five choices. She could initially just put two choices that are commutable and see whether she gets offers.

DS2 is only putting down 2. He’s clear on which he wants as firm and insurance so he’ll apply to those and if he gets offers (which he ought to since his predicted grades are higher than they require) job done. If not he can add three more.

unis don't provide pastoral care in the same way that supermarket's don't.

Lancaster, put them into catered accommodation to start with.

I've just done the uni application and applied for the Disabled Student Allowance- when they assessed me I have been given a certain amount of hours per year with a one to one support - to be used for mental health / uni support .... this could be an Avenue for you to explore?
They also explored the reasons why I receive PIP and awarded me additional help via the DSA I stated above :-)

I know my specific uni also has student services - which can also allocate mental health support workers to a student for weekly meetings etc.

Lancaster is excellent but a very long way from the OP. I have a child there and it’s incredibly supportive partly due to the collegiate system.

Realistically, every academic I know works in a system where academics have personal tutees to support, and all of them report students don't come to see them, read their emails, or ask for help when needed. The mental health support everywhere is likely to depend on this and on whether uni counselling has anything more than barebones service (unlikely). I would aim for a campus uni unless they find that isolating, and help them make a support/help plan at the start.

The student will need to actively engage with services, staff in our place could only direct to disability, counselling etc but not make them do it. Without official consent from the student they won't talk to you. Is it better to take some time out first and try to get on a more even keel?

Universities are by their nature fairly impersonal because they are large and have a low staff/pupil ratio. This means someone who needs 'pastoral care' is far moe likely to fall through the cracks unless they are lucky enough to develop a good relationship with a particular tutor who is also caring and awrae (plenty of academics are stereotypical head-in-the research types)

If pastoral care is important, the student will probably need to make an effort to access it.

You'd be better off going for smaller environments - like Oxford/cambrige where there are colleges and more one-on-one student/tutor awareness.

Best of luck.

Hiya,

I'm not sure where in the south you are, but, I can thoroughly recommend Surrey in Guildford. They were fantastic for my ND DC who studied a STEM subject there and graduated last year.

As a previous poster mentioned, probably the most effective way of guaranteed regular input from a university is to apply for Disability Student Allowance, which will enable them to access one-to-one support. Not always easy, I know, but was brilliant for us.

Student support service staff should be available to talk to at open days. If they are not, that is not a good sign! Ask them what they can do to help in ways specific to your DD. eg quiet accommodation, early move in etc Also, check how much can be arranged in advance of actually moving in. My DD had an online meeting with student support before she has even got her results.
If she gets special adjustments for exams at school, check how they can help continue those.
Definitely look into applying for DSA - it's part of the finance application to start with. Ask the unis how they interact with DSA.
I have to say though, no matter how good the support services are, it is down to the student to seek them out.

My son had his DSA assessment yesterday and I was so pleasantly surprised at how much support he was offered (autism), when I am used to having to justify and argue for any support throughout his school years.

He has been recommended both a study skills and autism specialist mentor, who I believe he will see for an hour a week during term time. He was also offered loads of software to help with all aspects of his course. Brain in Hand in particular looks really helpful as a move to independence as you set it up with personalised strategies with how to deal with things when they go wrong and also has a mental health monitor through which you can talk to someone in person if things go really badly.

@Jaxx DSA is really good, but you do really need to keep on top of it. Your assessor will recommend all those things and now they need to be agreed by student finance (it usually is!). Your DS will then be sent an email with instructions on how to order the equipment etc. The provider will then email to arrange deliveries, training etc. Everything is driven by the student and the emails can be quite lengthy so do keep offering help/chasing/helping/suggesting checking emails - whatever works with your DS!