26th October 2023
Student specialist, Endsleigh, signs a unique deal with Unite Students, the UK’s leading provider of student accommodation, to provide 24/7 wellbeing support for 70,000 students.
Endsleigh Insurance, a Howden Group company with 60 years’ experience providing bespoke solutions for the education community, has signed a first of its kind deal with Unite Students, the UK’s leading provider of student accommodation, to provide new 24/7 wellbeing and mental health services to 70,000 students. The wellbeing initiative includes unique features for Unite Students' residents.
Designed to complement and support Unite Students’ 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 has an interpretation service in over 240 languages and online support resources including cognitive behavioural therapy.
Karan Khanna, Chief Customer Officer at Unite Students, said:
“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 have the opportunity to 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.”
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 the student accommodation provider has joined forces with Endsleigh.
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 their fixed-price, all-inclusive rent.
“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,” said Alison Meckiffe, Chief Executive Officer at Endsleigh Insurance.
Significant increase in student’s mental health concerns
With a 450% increase in the number of students declaring mental health problems in the last decade [1], Endsleigh’s student wellbeing programme developed in partnership with Health Assured, the UK and Ireland’s most trusted independent health and wellbeing specialist, 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.
40% of counselling calls made outside of working hours
21/22 figures for Endsleigh’s wellbeing programme highlighted 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 our 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 measure 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, which will launch in November, highlights an increase in students accessing mental health support and shows an increase in concern that students mental health will decline further over the next 12 months, making access to round the clock wellbeing services even more important.
Meckiffe adds: “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.”
About Endsleigh:
Endsleigh has almost 60 years’ experience providing solutions for students, universities, and the wider education community.
As part of Howden, the world’s largest independent retail broker network, Endsleigh has access to market leading products and insurers. And while Endsleigh’s specialists understand the risks their customers in the education community face daily, they go beyond broking - building relationships and offering services that meet their customers’ ever-evolving needs - from insurance and risk management to wellbeing and protection against cyber fraud.
About Unite Students:
Unite Students is the UK's largest owner, manager, and developer of purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) serving the country's world-leading higher education sector. We provide homes to 70,000 students across 157 properties in 23 leading university towns and cities. We currently partner with over 60 universities across the UK.
Our people are driven by a common purpose: to provide a 'Home for Success' for the students who live with us. Unite Students’ accommodation is safe and secure, high quality, and affordable. Students live predominantly in en-suite study bedrooms with rents covering all bills, insurance, 24-hour security and high-speed Wi-Fi. We also achieved a five-star British Safety Council rating in our last audit.
We are committed to raising standards in the student accommodation sector for our customers, investors, and employees. This is why our new Sustainability Strategy, launched in 2021, includes a commitment to become net zero carbon across our operations and developments by 2030.
Founded in 1991 in Bristol, the Unite Group is an award-winning Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), listed on the London Stock Exchange. For more information, visit Unite Group's corporate website www.unitegroup.com or the Unite Students’ site www.unitestudents.com.
[1] 450% increase in student mental health declarations over last decade but progress still needed to address declarations stigma | Undergraduate | UCAS