BRITISH universities spend £30 million a year to provide counselling for students with mental health problems.

Figures obtained by The Times under the Freedom of Information Act from 18 leading universities suggest that the number of students seeking counselling has risen by more than 20 per cent to 60,000 in five years.

Universities have increased spending on counselling services by over 50 per cent in the period and now spend an average of £280,000, up from £185,000 five years ago.

As delegates from the National Union of Students converged on Manchester yesterday for the union’s Mental Health Day, it was estimated that one in four students experiences some form of mental distress while at university.

Counsellors blamed the rise on tuition fees, increased pressure on students to do well, as well as a growing social acceptance of counselling. Caroline Hall, of the Heads of University Counselling Services, said: “Life is becoming more difficult in lots of ways. We are living in very anxious times. There are worries about living in an apparently unsafe world, and people bring that up sometimes.

“Tuition fees are part of it. Students are working long hours in paid jobs to support themselves, especially if they are from poorer backgrounds.”

The rising number of students seeking counselling threatens to push university services to the limit.

The latest annual report from Cambridge shows “a marked increase in the numbers of students approaching the University Counselling Service”. The report records 43 suicidal students, 56 with bulimia or anorexia, and 70 with self-harm problems, a figure the university says is “rather worrying”. Lesley Parker, deputy head of the service, said: “The work pressure is very high at Cambridge and people have to work hard, but the support networks are much sturdier.”

Recent minutes from Bristol University, where the number of students seeking counselling has risen by 29 per cent in five years, said: “The waiting list for the counselling service is of great concern.” Some students have to wait four weeks to see a counsellor.

An interim report in June from the counselling service at Imperial College London, showed that the number of students seeking counselling “is significantly higher than [in] recent years. . . We have a waiting list, for the first time in the service’s existence, for ongoing counselling.” At Liverpool, which has increased spending on counselling by 66 per cent since 2000, the latest annual report claims that normal service “cannot be sustained, if the number of students wishing to access the service continue to rise, without extra resources”.

The number of students at Leeds University seeking counselling has risen by 59 per cent in five years. A plea made in April for more staff said: “Record numbers of students to date have used the centre in 2004-05. This situation places huge pressures on the team, to see more students than is professionally recommended.”

An English student at Oxford who suffered from anorexia told The Times: “When I approached the counselling service I was told they could only see me for one appointment because so many students wanted to use the service. They said I could have a follow-up appointment, but I was made to feel that I could only take it if I was on the verge of death.” A university spokesman said: “There was a problem with increased waiting times for counselling appointments in the 2004-05 academic year, which was exacerbated in February by two counsellors unexpectedly taking long-term sick leave. The counselling service introduced measures to manage the situation . . . the waiting time for an appointment was reduced to five working days in the majority of cases and has remained at this level.”

The counselling service at Southampton saw 69 per cent more students in the past year than in 2000. Twenty-nine students there attempted suicide last year, two of whom died.

Universities UK said: “It is estimated that one in four students will experience some form of mental distress during their time at university . . . mental health is no longer a minority issue. There is no empirical evidence, however, to confirm that students are more likely to suffer diagnosable mental health disorder than the age-matched non-student population.”

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