Postgraduate Wellbeing at UCL

What is it really like to be a Postgraduate Student at UCL? Are there adequate support systems in place? How far do postgraduate students feel a sense of belonging to UCL? How is their overall sense of wellbeing?

To find out, we carried out research with both postgraduate taught and postgraduate research students. Using a survey, diary exercises, interviews, and focus groups, we set out to understand how postgraduate students perceive their access to support, their sense of belonging, and consequently their general wellbeing.

We found out that even though postgraduate students represent just over 50% of the UCL student community, they often feel overlooked, citing insufficient induction, a lack of dedicated space on campus, and a sense of the undergraduate experience being prioritised above their own.

What we learnt 

Postgraduate students were generally lukewarm about their overall sense of wellbeing, with workload and the pressures of the cost of living frequently cited as linked factors that negatively impact their day to day lives. These stressors are a double edged sword: students commented on needing to work more hours to afford to live, thus limiting the time spent on study, and on struggling to make ends meet due to heavy academic loads limiting the time spent in paid work.

Alongside these external pressures was a sense of a culture that normalised struggle in graduate study and broader academia, which creates barriers in seeking support. This is further exacerbated by sometimes complicated relationships with teaching staff and research supervisors.

The barriers to engaging with support processes are not just psychological but also procedural. Students commented on processes which added burden during moments of stress or crisis, inconsistencies across departments, and knowledge gaps amongst both staff and students. Additionally, delays in receiving adequate feedback or careers guidance leaves students feeling uncertain of their progress and future.

Community and belonging were among most important factors affecting postgraduate wellbeing at UCL, with postgraduates reporting a lower sense of belonging than undergraduates. The barriers to belonging were numerous including the tight timelines of a one-year master’s degrees leadings to difficulties in making meaningful connections, the solitary nature of many doctoral research projects, and increasingly limited postgraduate specific place on campus.

What next?  

Reflecting on student feedback, this report makes many wide-ranging recommendations:

Academic Life

1. UCL departments to reconsider their assessment periods to avoid bunching of deadlines.
2. UCL to implement the recommendations of the Personal Tutor Review and conduct a similar exercise for research supervisory systems.
3. UCL to consider the implementation of a review and monitoring system, as a supplement to the Feedback Tracker Report, to ensure that students receive feedback that is timely and constructive.

Financial Wellbeing

1. UCL to consider increasing the level of financial support it can offer students facing chronic, rather than sudden, financial pressure.
2. UCL departments to consider increasing research funding pots.
3. UCL departments to consider developing a stipend to support post-conference or academic seminar socialising for postgraduate students to facilitate networking.
4. UCL to reconsider the eligibility and evidence criteria of their financial support packages.

Accessing Support

1. UCL to adopt a ‘no wrong door’ approach to support services and take steps to bridge the gap between departmental support and professional services.
2. UCL to move forward with the review the Reasonable Academic Adjustments process, specifically:
   • A reconsideration of the diagnosis and doctor’s note requirement for Reasonable Academic Adjustments and implementation of a ‘needs passport’ scheme
   • A revaluation of permitted adjustments, including alternative assessment methods.
3. UCL should improve the visibility of information about support processes, such as the Delayed Assessment Scheme and Extenuating Circumstances, by improving communication between departments and professional services and providing consistent, year‑round messaging to ensure that all students, especially those new to UCL, are aware of this support available to them.
4. UCL to explore how UCL Careers and academic departments can work more closely together such as through the inclusion of career planning into the postgraduate curriculum and postgraduate research supervisory system.
5. UCL to consider extending the session limits of psychological support services.

Searching for Community

1. UCL departments to consider establishing mentoring schemes to aid in building connections between postgraduate students.
2. UCL departments to consider timetabling end of term parties for their cohorts that are communicated and advertised from the start of term.
3. UCL departments to consider developing regular skills exchange and work-in-progress sessions for postgraduate students, and especially research students.
4. UCL to consider halting any further reductions in postgraduate specific space and explore possibilities for increasing this provision in consultation with the Students’ Union.
5. UCL to develop and deploy, in partnership with the Students’ Union, a programme of light touch wellbeing activities.

Read the full report below: