University Mental Health Charter

In 2017, Universities UK launched the Step Change framework, establishing the call for universities to take a ‘whole university approach’ to university mental health. Out of this work the University Mental Health Charter was created by Student Minds.

The Charter aims to support and encourage universities to achieve a whole-university approach to mental health and wellbeing. Achieving the principles outlined in the University Mental Health Charter framework will lead to improved mental health and wellbeing outcomes for staff and students, and a range of individual and organisational-level outcomes. The University is committed to participating in the Charter Programme and applying for and achieving the University Mental Health Charter.

For more detailed information on the University Mental Health Charter please visit the Student Minds website

Charter Programme

The University Mental Health Charter Programme is a voluntary improvement programme, which supports staff within participating universities to understand, demonstrate and share good practice, take action to improve their approach and prepare for accreditation.

Charter Award

The University Mental Health Charter Award is the accreditation process for programme members. Through a process of self-assessment and an onsite visit, the university and Award assessment teams assess the university’s progress towards the principles in the Charter, to inform ongoing improvement and recognise excellent approaches to student and staff mental health with a charter mark.

We have undertaken a gap analysis against the Charter Principles of Practice and have created an Action Plan to address some of the areas identified through this process and the feedback we received from our community. 

Learn more about our actions here.

If you would like to be added to our monthly update email mailing list, or have thoughts you'd like to share, please contact our University Mental Health Charter Programme Manager, Terri Watkins, at WICC@exeter.ac.uk