Seldon: universities must promote well-being

Anna McKie interviews Anthony Seldon, who wants universities to improve student mental health services.

Anthony Seldon, who is vice-chancellor of the University of Buckingham, is a long-term champion of good mental health, having introduced well-being classes to Wellington College in 2006, when he was a headmaster at the school. In 2015 he called on university leaders to address what he called the “crisis” of student mental health, arguing that universities must assume a duty of care towards their students.

High drop-out rates are symptomatic of the mental health problems that some students face, Seldon told HE, which he described as a “sad and shocking indictment” of the the failure of some universities to support student mental wellbeing.