As recognised across the sector, the levels of support required by students are increasing, and with them the demands on Higher Education institutions to offer and facilitate such support.
The Higher Education representative body, Universities UK, has brought supporting students’ mental health into strategic and policy focus. The report by Student Minds declared, “Cultivating environments and communities that are supportive of mental health, and providing timely access to support services, is the most effective approach to reducing mental health difficulties in our society.” UUK issued the directive Stepchange: Mentally Healthy Universities in 2019.
In July 2023, the University of Sheffield was awarded the Student Minds University Mental Health Charter, as one of only 7 British HEIs, out of 96 eligible institutions. The assessment for the award identified Residence Life as a department demonstrating ‘Excellent Practice’.
Then in summer of 2024, The Office for Students (regulator for Higher Education in England) created a new condition of registration, E6, which required institutions to tackle incidents of harassment and/or sexual misconduct, including intimate relationships between relevant staff and students. E6 came into force on 1 August 2025. The University of Sheffield met that deadline, largely thanks to pre-existing staff infrastructure and training (pertaining to sexual misconduct) particularly in Residence Life.
Residence Life at Sheffield has evolved over the years in tune with changing student needs, leading the way in innovation in its field in the UK. A number of Russell Group (research-intensive) British Universities have looked to Sheffield for inspiration when setting up their own Residence Life services, and an independent benchmarking study into such provision in the UK found the Sheffield model to be the best. Due to numerous requests for sharing the key to our successes, the team have hosted visits from a number of HE institutions across the country as well as The Netherlands, USA and Hong Kong.
Among received accolades, the Sheffield Residence Life service won the 2019 UK College and University Business Officers ‘Innovation in Student Experience Award’ and the European Class of 2020 ‘Student Wellbeing’ Award.
This session will focus on some initiatives that have made Residence Life at Sheffield an award-winning service, with a focus on supporting mental health and wellbeing for University students and staff as well as providing timely and appropriate responses to conduct matters, including harassment and/or sexual misconduct.
This session briefly maps the journey of the Residence Life programme at Sheffield over recent years, focussing on some of the strategic changes and most notable challenges encountered on the way, with a special focus on student wellbeing and staff development, as follows:
1.
What are the expectations of College or Universities in relation to supporting students’ wellbeing and mental health? How does this impact on Residence Life departments when considering community, housing, support and conduct?
2.
Since the majority of students in the UK are considered adults, what are the appropriate responses from a College or University in regards to both support and disciplinary action?
3.
With increasing student casework volume and levels of complexity thereof (including pre-existing or emerging ill mental health among the student population; and heightened levels of sexual misconduct reports), should we redefine Residence Life roles, and what type of training and support should Residence Life departments offer their staff, especially student staff?
4.
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