University life is both stimulating and challenging and your ability to identify & balance various competing demands is essential. Recognise potential impacts on mental health and wellbeing, identify coping strategies that work for you and be aware of the support available to you.
The World Health Organisation defines wellbeing as "a positive state experienced by individuals and societies... [which] encompasses quality of life and the ability of people and societies to contribute to the world with a sense of meaning and purpose." We can think of wellbeing as individual's experience of a range of positive qualities including: good mental and physical health; a sense of balance and control over emotional states; a positive mindset and attitude enabling personal development; a good standard of life satisfaction; an ability to manage stress. Whilst we cannot always control certain aspects of our lives that may impact on our overall wellbeing (such as unexpected life events or the environments in which we find ourselves), we can nevertheless take steps to strengthen our ability to cope with such factors with a view to mitigating negative impacts as far as possible.
The link between wellbeing and educational attainment at university is well established. An exploration of the relationship between student wellbeing and academic achievement was carried out by Advance HE, an influential and respected advisory body to universities and university staff within the UK higher education sector. In their recent 2022 Education for Mental Health report, they highlight the importance of taking a holistic view of student wellbeing in order to better understand its relationship with learning. This means recognising the interdependence that exists between physical, social and psychological wellbeing and how negative states of one or other of these aspects can have significant influence on the overall wellbeing of an individual and result in negative impacts on their ability to learn effectively. Equally it is recognised that positive states can generate and enable a range of benefits advantageous to learning.
The key findings of the report affirm the fact that the relationship between student wellbeing and student learning is transactional in nature. This means they are constantly influencing and impacting on one another in either or both positive and negative ways. Recognising this fact is important to you as a student since it will enable you to:
Cardiff Met's Student Services offer advice and guidance across a range of different areas related to university life and is an important resource for students studying with the university.
In particular the Wellbeing Service offers specific support to students who may be experiencing challenges as a result of an array of challenging circumstances or due to a range of disabilities including specific learning difficulties, mental health conditions, and medical conditions. They also services to help students manage short term or isolated incident of stress.
In addition you will find links to:
If you feel you would benefit from any of these service head over to the Student Services page for more information and methods for contacting or accessing services relevant to you
A small disclaimer: be aware that the resources linked to on this page are created and authored by institutions and individuals outside of Cardiff Met and that specific information and advice given, particularly with regards to the policies, services, provision and practices of other universities does not refer to those of Cardiff Met. We highly recommend visiting the Cardiff Metropolitan University Academic Handbook to clarify relevant policies, processes and procedures that apply to students of Cardiff Met should you need to.
Academic skills for wellbeing | 301 | The University of Sheffield
Wellbeing | Sheffield Hallam University (shu.ac.uk)
Wellbeing – Academic Skills Pocketbook (pressbooks.pub)
Health advice for students, authored by doctors.
BeWell Podcasts - This great University of Aberdeen podcast series offers episodes on a range of wellbeing related topics, some of which are featured below.
The first 15 minutes of this video contains some great advice for university students on firstly, recognising early on potential issues with wellbeing and mental health whilst studying followed by some useful advice on managing well being and mental health whilst at university. The remainder of the video focuses on support services offered by the content creator institution so is less relevant to Cardiff Met students, however if you do feel you would like to access support regarding such your wellbeing and / or mental health, be sure to visit Cardiff Met Student Services.