2023-24 Student Welfare and Support Services reports show demand for services remained high

Counselling Service

2,928 students registered for individual counselling in 2023/24; 11.3% of the total student population (down from 12.4% in 2022/23). The leading reasons for students to seek counselling and psychological support were anxiety, depression & mood disorders, relationships and academic issues.

Waiting times improved in 2023/24, with 37% of all students being seen in fewer than 5 working days (up from 30%), and 81% being seen within 15 days (up from 80%). An appointment prioritisation system enabled the service to support students with the greatest need in a timelier manner; the average wait for these students was just over four days.

The Counselling Service continues to report strong clinical outcomes for students accessing its services. In 2023/24, 84% of students rated their level of emotional difficulty as ‘very severe’, ‘severe’ or ‘moderately severe’ prior to counselling – this reduced to 24% after engaging with the Counselling Service. 29% of students indicated that when they first came to counselling they were thinking about suspending or withdrawing from the University – by the end of counselling this had reduced to 6%. Student feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with 92% of students rating their overall experience as ‘very good’ or ‘good'.

The Peer Support Programme continues to thrive after three decades and remains

the largest and most successful University Peer Support programme in the UK.

Disability Advisory Service

7,615 students (23.3% of the total Oxford student population) were registered with the Disability Advisory Service (DAS) in 2023/24 – up from 22% in 2022/23. 25.6% of those registered had Specific Learning Difficulties, while 23.3% were students with long-term mental health conditions.

In 2023/24, a new tailored Student Support Plan model was introduced to enable students with Specific Learning Difficulties to access a range of standard reasonable adjustment recommendations in a more timely and efficient way. The number of Student Support Plans (SSP) in place by the end of the academic year increased to more than 3,400 (up from 3,200), representing 10.6% of the student population.

The Disability Advisory Service processed 636 applications for examination adjustments (up 72% on 2022/23). This was driven by an expansion of evidence requirements and the ability of the Service to process requests and SSPs more quickly.

Sexual Harassment and Violence Support Service

Service demand remained steady in 2023/24; there was a 5% increase in referrals with 179 students referred into the service (up from 170), of which 147 received support. The Independent Sexual Violence Advisor service supported 37 students, down from 54 students in 2022/23 (a 31% decrease).

Students were seen within an average of nine working days from the point of referral, with 82% of students referring into the Support Service meeting with a caseworker. Most appointments (79%) took place in-person and in 92% of cases caseworkers responded within two working days.

Students can seek support from the Service for incidents that have happened anywhere and at any time in the past. In line with the previous year, 49% of incidents disclosed to the Service in 2023/24 took place outside of the University context. There was an increase in domestic abuse cases, as well as incidents of stalking, childhood sexual abuse and spiking.

New online consent training, ‘Consent for Students’, was launched in Michaelmas term 2023. 3,307 students completed the training throughout the year; 68% of those were new starters, and 68% were undergraduates. 1,778 students completed online training in 2022/23. The Sexual Harassment and Violence Support Service (SHVSS) also expanded the in-person Healthy Relationships and Consent Workshop programme, which is run led by student facilitators, and ran in eight colleges – up from two colleges in the previous academic year. In Michaelmas 2024, this increased to fifteen colleges.