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Peer Support
What is peer support?
Peer support is where people with shared experiences, such as being a student at university, provide support to one another. Being listened to and supported by another student who may have experienced similar challenges, can offer encouragement, hope and potential solutions, in a way that other, more formal support services may not.
Who are the peer supporters and what can they help me with?
Our peer supporters are UCL students who have undergone a recruitment and selection process and have been trained to provide non-judgemental, confidential support to their fellow students. You can find out more about the team of 18 peer supporters on the
Peer supporters are there to help you through a range of worries. This might include talking with you about practical and academic challenges you are experiencing, social and relationships issues, or wellbeing and mental health difficulties. They will give you the time and space to talk about what is on your mind. Although they can't advise you about what to do, they might share how they have coped with similar challenges or suggest other services and support that might be able to help. In our experience students use peer support for a variety of different reasons but often because they are undecided about seeking more formal, structured support (such as university counselling) or are not sure what other support is available.
What you tell a peer supporter is kept confidential within the peer support service, unless they are worried about your safety, in which case we may need to break confidentiality.
How do I arrange to speak to a peer supporter?
You can book an online session using the peer support booking form. Sessions last up to 50 minutes, although you do not have to use all of this time. At the moment sessions are only offered at times during office hours (Monday to Friday, between 9am and 5pm). You can choose which peer supporter you speak to if you prefer, or just book a session with any peer supporter according to when you want to speak to someone. There is no limit to how many times you use peer support and you are welcome to book additional sessions if you'd like to.
Got a question that isn't answered above?
Take a look at our frequently asked questions docuemnt or contact the Peer Support Project team at CEHP.peersupport@ucl.ac.uk.
About the TRANSACT Peer Support project
This peer support service is part of the TRANSACT Peer Support project being funded as part of the Office for Students' Mental Health Funding Competition. The project is running until August 2023. You can find out more about the funding compeitition and all of the project being funded on the Office for Students website.
I'm interested in training as a peer supporter/ updates on your project.
We are not currently recruiting peer supporters but if you would like to be notified of future opportunities or receive general updates about our peer support, you can sign up to our mailing list.
