Howden Group company and education solutions provider – Endsleigh Insurance – has announced that it has signed a first of its kind deal with student accommodation provider Unite Students. The partnership is set to provide new 24/7 wellbeing and mental health services to 70,000 students, particularly for those residing in Unite Students’ schemes.
Designed to complement and support the operators existing wellbeing support, Endsleigh’s 24/7 Student Wellbeing Helpline and Digital Therapy provides students with unlimited access to a British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) accredited, 24/7 counselling helpline. It also has an interpretation service in over 240 languages and online support resources including cognitive behavioural therapy.
The Unite Students 2023 Applicant Index reveals one in three university applicants, a total of almost 154,000, missed lessons at schools, colleges and sixth-forms in the last two years due to their mental health. A quarter (24%), from the survey of 2,141 applicants who were planning to start an undergraduate degree in the 2023-24 academic year, said they felt lonely all or most of the time – part of the reason Unite Students has joined forces with Endsleigh.
“Unite Students’ new 24/7 Student Wellbeing Helpline and Digital Therapy is the result of listening to student feedback and engaging with our university partners. Our research shows we need to continue to prioritise providing access to support for all our customers, when they need it, as part of our ‘Support to Stay’ promise. We’ve partnered with Endsleigh so students can access vital support via their phones and can engage in clinician-lead therapy through a digital platform when they need it most, bridging the gap before they can secure face-to-face therapy through their university or GP.”
Karan Khanna, Chief Customer Officer, Unite Students
The introduction of 24/7 Student Wellbeing Helpline and Digital Therapy highlights Endsleigh’s long partnership with Unite Students and its provision of group contents insurance across Unite Students’ student accommodation blocks, which is included for free to students as part of the fixed-price, all-inclusive rent.
With a 450% increase in the number of students declaring mental health problems in the last decade, Endsleigh’s student wellbeing programme developed in partnership with independent health and wellbeing specialist Health Assured, helps relieve the increasing pressure felt by student accommodation providers by providing round the clock support to their students.
Endsleigh currently provides mental health and wellbeing support for more than one million university and college students.
“We are thrilled to be providing Unite Students and their residents with our Student Assistance Programme. Students are at a higher risk of mental health issues developing due to loneliness, financial worries and academic stress. We believe mental health support should be easily accessible to all students as they undergo the challenges and changes that coincide with studying. Our Student Assistance Programme is a natural progression of the innovative services we’ve delivered over the past 60 years. We call this approach #beyondbroking – it’s more than a set of products, it’s joined-up thinking, a new mindset that looks at the whole customer, not just individual needs.”
Alison Meckiffe, Chief Executive Officer, Endsleigh Insurance
2021/2022 figures for Endsleigh’s wellbeing programme highlighted that the most common reasons for students contacting the counselling helpline were for anxiety, low mood and depression. There was a 60% increase in students using the wellbeing services compared to the previous year, with 40% of all calls made outside of the normal 9am to 5pm working day or at weekends when access to student services is more challenging.
Endsleigh’s expertise in this area is consolidated by its annual Student Happiness Index report, which digs deep into student concerns and measures how happy they are. The business uses the results of each year’s report to adapt and provide services that are current and relevant to the education sector.
This year’s report highlights an increase in students accessing mental health support, showing a growing concern that students mental health will decline further over the next 12 months, making access to round the clock wellbeing services even more important.
