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Guidance for staff: How to support students and staff with wellbeing conversations

9 January 2025

UCL has a number of support systems in place to help staff in both student-facing roles and those who manage other employees.

Three people sitting and talking to each other

Many UCL staff in pastoral roles with students or as employee line managers will be the first point of contact for conversations around mental health and wellbeing or those experiencing difficulties. As we start a new term, here are some reminders of support systems and guidance available for staff in various roles.

In an emergency, always call 999. For students in need of an urgent support but not an emergency response, you can submit a Student of Concern referral: Student of Concern form | Students - UCL – University College London 

Staff guidance for supporting students who are facing difficulties  

There are several ways to support students at UCL who are experiencing difficulties. 

Student Triage and Referral Tool

To help find the best way to advise, signpost and support the student appropriately if you're worried about the wellbeing of a current UCL student is to use the newly-expanded Student Triage and Referral Tool

Students approach staff with a range of difficulties, from a recent trauma to academic or financial problems and sometimes it's not always clear what the best way to support them is. The Student Triage and Referral Tool offers guidance to the staff member about how to advise, signpost and support the student appropriately. 

In addition, some staff in relevant roles receive specialised training on how to support students, but staff can escalate to staff in dedicated roles in their departments and faculties, including the Director of Education and Student Experience for their Faculty. 

Other ways of supporting students are:

Help them understand their options 
  • The UCL Here to Support You Guide has a lot of useful information and resources: ucl_here_to_support_you_guide_2024-25_digital.pdf 
  • Help students to identify their support network and consider using the support services available at UCL through Student Services and Wellbeing (SSW). Students can contact the 24/7 Student Support Line. This free, confidential service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in 35+ languages. You can call +44 (0) 808 238 0077.  

Other contact options are available for those who don’t want to speak on the phone. 

Encourage them to reach out
  • Book an appointment with our Support and Wellbeing Services 

You can submit an enquiry through askUCL or call +44 (0)20 3108 8836.  

Students can use this tool to report bullying, sexual misconduct, harassment, or sexual violence.  

  • SRS Casework Team also have Independent Sexual Violence Advisers (ISVAs),and Student Support Officers. The ISVAs can provide emotional and practical support, information, and guidance to any UCL student reporting or considering reporting incidents of Sexual violence, harassment or misconduct to the University. 
  • ISVAs can be contacted at casework.isva@ucl.ac.uk to arrange a confidential appointment. 

  • Outreach support - both through Rape Crisis South London for female students and Survivors UK for male, trans and non-binary people - can be accessed by anyone who’s survived sexual violence regardless of reporting. Students contacting Rape Crisis South London can speak to the Advice and Wellbeing Team or contact us directly (university.support@rasasc.org.uk)

  • Contact the London Nightline 

The London Nightline team at UCL provide confidential listening, support and information to students in London throughout the night during term time. 

Use the Digital Accessibility Hub 
This hub provides access to assistive technology software to help students study independently.  

Contact the Students' Union UCL Advice Service 
You can contact this service for advice and support on filling out reports. 
See more information and services available to students here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/students/support-and-wellbeing-service

Key external contacts  
  • Call NHS 111 - option 2 connects callers to Mental Health Support in a non-emergency
  • Contact Samaritans
  • You can call Samaritans on 116 123 to talk to someone at any time, day or night. 

Staff support

Support for line managers

There are various wellbeing staff resources staff can access, including guidance on how to respond to and support others who may be having a difficult time, whether inside or outside of work: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/human-resources/workplace-health  

What support is available for staff mental health and wellbeing? 

The Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) is a free employee support service. Call 0808 196 5808 to speak to a professional counsellor or information specialist in confidence. The EAP can provide information on support services in your local area, and short term, face-to-face counselling to help get you back on track.  

The service is confidential, with 24/7 mental health support in seconds, by phone. Speak to information experts on legal, financial, housing and family related issues. Support is available for both personal and work-related matters. 

Handling a disclosure  

Within Report and Support, there is guidance on handing a disclosure from a colleague or direct report, with information on how to respond and how to report, either anonymously or with contact details.  

A disclosure involves a person sharing an incident or experience of bullying, harassment or sexual misconduct. This may be a recent incident, or it may have occurred in the past.  

Every experience and disclosure will be different, and as a result, there is no one-way to respond. 

You may not recognise a disclosure at first, and the affected person may not use terms such as ‘bullying’ ‘harassment’ ‘assault’ or ‘misconduct’ to describe their experience. However, it is important to listen and enable them to describe their experience in their own words. 

Sharing an experience of bullying, harassment or sexual misconduct is an act of trust and it is important that you affirm the affected person is not to blame.   

Mental health training for line managers

In addition, the Workforce Health department delivers mental health and wellbeing briefings to departments. The team also recently launched a new online self-paced Mental Health Training for Line Managers.  

We also have a People Management Essentials course which includes information on mental health and how best to support direct reports.   

Managers who are concerned about their staff can also use our occupational health service to refer their employees via a management referral: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/human-resources/workplace-health/occupational-health-services/management-referral-process