Information Assurance and Governance
Office of the Principal
18 June, 2018
Dear Ms Wylie,
Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
Our Ref: 184-18
I refer to your following request for information dated 19 May, 2018 under the Freedom of
Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (“the FOISA”):
a) In 2016-2017, how many students accessed mental welfare counselling services?
In academic year 2016/17, 992 students were in contact with a Counsellor via any method
i.e. phone, email, letter, text message or video call. Students may also see an adviser in
our Student Life and Wellbeing team, Disability team or the Mental Health Co-ordinator.
b) How long did it take for them to access these services after raising an issue?
The University does not operate a waiting list. Students are assessed by one or our
advisers in the Student Life and Wellbeing team who assess and prioritise appointments,
providing support to students until their appointment with the relevant member of the
Counselling and Wellbeing team.
As the University does not hold any recorded information relevant to this part of your
enquiry notice is given to this effect under section 17(1) of the FOISA.
c)
Are there any reports or statistics that indicate how effective the counselling services have
been for students struggling with their mental health? CORE Outcome Measure is a validated self-report questionnaire designed to be used before,
during and after therapy. It is used routinely by Wellbeing Advisers, Counsellors and the Mental
Heal team (and therefore, this data relates not only to counselling, but to other teams as well) to
make an initial assessment, and then to monitor response to therapy. Within this assessment,
some students also participate in the Counselling Impact on Academic Outcomes questionnaire
(CIAO). This consists of questions that asks the student to rate the impact of their problems, and
the counselling they have attended on several different aspects of their lives. Not all students
complete all aspects of these questionnaires.
Of the cases where two or more time points were recorded, 97% showed either stable, or
reliable and/or clinical improvement in their scores. Of these, those indicating risk also fell
(risk of suicide fell by 42%, risk of self-harm fell by 52% and risk to others fell by 67%).
Information Assurance and Governance
01334 462776
xxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xx.xx
The University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland, No: SC013532
In addition, 135 students completed our internal survey for the counselling, mental health
and wellbeing service, and 94% were satisfied with the support they received, and 93%
found their adviser/Counsellor helpful and informative.
Your right to seek a review of how your information request was managed
If you are not satisfied with the University’s response and/or our reasoning set-out above, you
have the right to request a review of our decision. The time lines in which this right is available
are set out in section 20(5)(a) and (b) FOISA. In broad terms the right to seek a review must
be exercised within 40 working days of receiving this response.
Any request for review should be put in writing or some other permanent form e.g. an e-mail
and should be sent to the University of St Andrews, through the contact details provided
below.
A request for a Review should:
a) state your name and address;
b) describe the nature of your original request; and
c) explain the reasons why you are dissatisfied with our response.
Freedom of Information / Environmental Information
University of St Andrews
Butts Wynd (Building)
St Andrews
Fife
KY16 9AJ
Email
xxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xx.xx
Telephone +44(0)1334 462776
If you remain dissatisfied with how your request for information has been dealt with following
Review, you also have the right to apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner (SIC) for a
decision. In the event of an appeal to the SIC, the Commissioner will generally only be able
to investigate the matters raised in the request for review.
Details on how to make an appeal online to the SIC can be found on their website:
http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourRights/Unhappywiththeresponse/AppealingtoCommis
sioner.aspx
Alternatively, you can contact the SIC by post, telephone or email at:
Scottish Information Commissioner
Kinburn Castle
Doubledykes Road
St Andrews
Fife KY16 9DS
Telephone: 01334 464610
E-mail: xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxxx
Website: www.itspublicknowledge.info
This concludes the University’s response.
Yours sincerely
JUNE WEIR
Information Assurance and Governance Officer
Information Assurance and Governance
01334 462776
xxx@xxxxxxxxxx.xx.xx
The University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland, No: SC013532