Well-being among students preparing to enter UK higher education has reached its highest level since the pandemic but improvements have mostly been witnessed among those from overseas, with domestic?counterparts lagging behind.

The annual?, which tracks higher education applicants¡¯ sentiments towards well-being, finances, and employment prospects before starting courses in 2025-26, finds an ¡°overall return to ¨C and improvement on ¨C pre-pandemic levels of well-being¡± this year.

However, the report, produced in partnership with the ÌÇÐÄVlog Policy Institute (Hepi), notes: ¡°This is largely driven by international applicants. Among UK applicants, there has been no recovery from the changes seen during and just after the pandemic.¡±

The report finds major differences between home entrants¡¯ reported experiences of mental health issues. While nearly two-thirds (62 per cent) of international applicants report they have experienced no mental health issues, just 38 per cent of UK applicants say the same.

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Compared with their international counterparts, domestic students are ¡°significantly¡± more likely to have experienced anxiety (40 per cent compared with 23 per cent), depression (24 per cent compared with 15 per cent) and eating disorders (14 per cent compared with 7 per cent). While 23 per cent of all applicants say that their ¡°life was worthwhile¡±, this compares with just 16 per cent of home applicants.

Furthermore, international applicants were less likely to say they felt lonely compared with?UK applicants, with 28 per cent of domestic applicants saying they felt lonely ¡°all or most of the time¡±. Chinese students were most likely to say they are never lonely, at 34 per cent, but the report concedes that this figure ¡°may be due to cultural factors¡±.

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Jenny Shaw, HE external engagement director at Unite Students, said that the report shows ¡°encouraging signs of recovery among higher education entrants¡±, noting that they reported higher social and academic confidence, improved resilience and better financial well-being.???

¡°However, the index highlights a persistent gap between UK and international applicants, with the latter reporting greater confidence across almost all areas, particularly well-being.

¡°While this is not unexpected as international applicants are those with the confidence and resources to study overseas, it has implications for higher education support services, especially for HE providers who are recruiting a higher proportion of UK students this year.¡±

The report also finds that international students were far less likely to be concerned about the cost-of-living crisis. International applicants from China in particular were confident about their?financial position, with 89 per cent saying they had enough money for their university experience, compared with 48 per cent of all students.?

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Campus resources on improving well-being in higher education

Overall, there were positive improvements within the report compared with previous years. Applicants report being more confident?than those in 2024 that they will feel welcome and have a sense of belonging at university, with 74 per cent saying they expect they will feel like they belong at university, up from 68 per cent year on year. The proportion of those expecting to feel welcome has also increased from 58 per cent to 64 per cent.??

Hepi director Nick Hillman said the results show that there are some ¡°real grounds for hope...after many years when the obstacles to learning seemed to be growing¡±.?

He noted that those surveyed in this year¡¯s cohort were ¡°less disrupted by Covid¡± than in previous surveys, ¡°so we now have to hope that the indicators that have turned a corner this year continue on their new upwards trajectory¡±.?

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com