Understanding Provision for Students with Mental Health Problems and Intensive Support Needs: Report to HEFCE by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) and Researching Equity, Access and Participation (REAP)

This report presents the findings of a research project undertaken for the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to update its understanding of institutional support provision for students with mental health problems and other impairments with high cost or intensive support needs. In particular, the research explored:

• how HE providers fund and provide support for students with severe mental health problems and impairments where intensive or multi-agency support is required;

• the split of provision between in-house support services and external support agencies;

• how HE providers balance factors in making decisions over the nature and extent of support offered with limited funding, and the impact on students; and

• what the key pressure points and challenges for HE providers are.