Speaking to Varsity this week, CUSU welfare officer Helen Hoogewerf-McComb revealed some early findings from the ‘Students Deserve Better’ survey. The survey, which received over one thousand respondents, aimed to collect students’ views on the college welfare system in Cambridge.

Hoogewerf-McComb said: “The ‘Students Deserve Better’ survey highlighted the variability of service provided by college tutors. While many students reported receiving excellent support, some felt let down by their experiences.”

The college-based system of welfare provision means that the responsibility for pastoral care lies predominantly with the thirty-one individual colleges. Although there are many similarities between the various colleges’ structures for welfare provision, the colleges ultimately decide on the personnel and training required of their pastoral staff.

For those with mental illness this often translates into massive disparity between students’ experiences of the help they receive.

Rachel Stoplar, a welfare officer for Christ’s College, said that the virtues of welfare provision in Cambridge “are underplayed.” She added: “I would encourage some credit to go to the individual tutors and counsellors who work so hard to help people in this tough environment.”

But many point to problems with the system. One JCR welfare officer who wished to remain anonymous said that he does not think the college-based welfare system provides enough help for students suffering from a mental illness.

He pointed to deficiencies in training: “Tutors should be selected, have contracts, and have to attend training, including training giving them information on active listening and raising awareness of how to treat mental health problems and the services available.”

Eddie Reynolds, men’s welfare officer at Trinity, said: “I am not sure what, if any, welfare training the tutors get. Chaplains receive nothing directly from the college, but generally come having had basic listening and counselling skills training.”

“The tutors have access to official online guidelines as to how to act in certain situations - such as in the event of the death of a student - but from my personal experience they tend to report issues that are brought to them to [...]somebody more capable of dealing with the particular problem.”

Hoogewerf-McComb added that there is “a need for improvement to reduce the risk of things going wrong, but also to improve confidence in a system which has such potential to help.

“Few universities can boast the number of pastoral staff that Cambridge has, or the level of direct contact these staff have with their students.”

Some suggest that the problem is not so much with the quality and quantity of help available, but rather a lack of awareness about the available support.

Robin Osborne, Senior Tutor at King’s College, said: “The main issue as I see it is not getting appropriate help for those who recognise that they have a problem, it is getting people to recognise the problem and nature of the problem in the first place.”

There is still a stigma attached to mental illness, which might prohibit students from seeking help.

Samantha Brown, the women’s welfare officer at Girton, said, “There is definitely still a stigma towards mental illness, particularly with the male student population. I am aware of some male students who have kept their situations regarding mental health pretty quiet, in the sense that they don’t want anything on their record.

“Our college nurses, however, are fully trained in sexual and mental health...and would probably be the best people to see if suffering from mental health [issues]. It’s just that often most people aren’t aware of what they can offer.”

What is clear is the complexity of identifying deficiencies in a system that varies so markedly between thirty-one institutions.It is hard to know where to begin to enact change, but – as the work if CUSU and organisations like Cambridge Speaks Its Mind show – a start has been made.