Flickr/dun_deagh, used under a Creative Commons licence

Mental health provision for local university students has been laid bare by a set of responses to a national freedom of information request revealed today.

The BBC Shared Data Unit, of which JesmondLocal is a partner, has collected and published mental health statistics from 83 universities across the country, showing a 53% rise in students seeking help and a 43% increase in spending on mental health budgets.

The investigation was instigated in response to concerns around student mental health after 11 Bristol University students have taken their own lives since 2016.

Local universities play only a small role in the nationwide data.

Northumbria University was not included in the BBC Shared Data Unit’s full findings as they only provided three years’ worth of data in response to a freedom of information request. During those three years, the number of students accessing counselling increased by 27% to 2,089 last academic year.

A Northumbria University spokesperson said: “We take students’ mental health extremely seriously. Our award-winning Student Support and Wellbeing service provides specialist support for them.

“Student Mental Health is a complex issue, and we deal with it on a case by case basis. We tailor support according to meet the needs of the students. Over 2,000 students requested support from Northumbria councillors in 2017/18.”

Ryan Bush, Northumbria Students Union welfare officer, also told JesmondLocal: “We do think that the University takes students mental health seriously.

“As mental health is strongly highlighted throughout our corporate plan, we are currently developing a joint wellbeing strategy with the University with a major part of that being Student Mental Health. We will continue to work with the University to highlight anywhere they could improve for the benefit of Northumbria Students.”

Northumbria’s statistics are less stark than the national norm. The data collated by the BBC Shared Data Unit show from 2012 to 2017, there was a 53% increase in the numbers of students seeking help for mental health issues from 50,901 to 78,061. The budget spent has increased by 43%, from £25.5m in 2012/13 to £36.6m in 2016/2017.

Newcastle University does not appear on the list of 83 universities within the BBC Shared Data Unit’s information. The unit claimed that all 163 public UK universities were contacted, and although 162 responded, only 83 of those provided five years’ worth of data to analyse.

Despite this, Newcastle University claimed they were not asked to provide data for the report.

However, JesmondLocal has seen a copy of the email sent to the BBC Shared Data Unit from the university, in which it refused to respond to the information, citing excess cost limits.

An extract of the email sent by Newcastle University in response to the FOI request by the BBC Shared Data Unit

A university spokesperson said: “Newcastle University takes student mental health needs very seriously and we have a significant amount of preventive and supportive initiates, which aim to help students get the very best from their university experience.”

In response to the data, Universities Minister Sam Gyimah said: “I have made student mental health one of my top priorities. Students invest a considerable amount of money through university fees and should rightly expect mental health support in return should they need it.”

Eva Crossan-Jory from the National Union of Students said UK universities suffered from “structural issues” with their mental health provision.

“There needs to be urgent, joined up thinking between institutions and government departments to deliver a clear plan of action which should include significant investment,” she said. “This is now essential before this crisis can escalate.”

Newcastle University Students Union did not respond to a request for comment.