Social Sustainability

One of the starkest findings from the Living Black at University report was the mental health challenge faced by Black students in UK student accommodation. Guest contributor Melissa Browne, Deputy Director of Commercial Services and Estates at University of Kent and Vice Chair of CUBO (College and University Business Officers), has seen the impact first-hand in her family – now, she shares her advice for parents of Black students on how to support them during their university experience.

Unite Students has today published ‘An asset, not a problem: Meeting the needs of neurodivergent students’, a report on the experiences of students who are autistic and/or have ADHD, created in collaboration with students from Bristol University Neurodiversity Society (BUNS). Here are some top-line findings about their accommodation and university experience.

What actions did our delegates take away from the Living Black at University Conference to create a more equitable living environment for Black students? Here are six key takeaways from the day.

Student belonging is the Higher Education's current hot topic - but what does it all mean for accommodation? Jenny Shaw hosts a panel of experts to weigh in on what their research and experience has shown about students feeling a sense of belonging in their accommodation, how inclusion and wellbeing intersect with that sense of belonging, and how student accommodation practitioners can facilitate a community in which students feel they belong.

It’s been a year since Unite Students published its Living Black at University report – here, we share what we’ve done since to support greater equity for Black students within the sphere of student accommodation, how we’ve partnered with others in the sector, and what’s still to come in 2023.

The Unite Students Commission on Living Black at University is delighted to announce that the Living Black at University Conference will be taking place in Newcastle on Tuesday 7th March 2023. This free one-day event is open to universities, accommodation providers, and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) leads in the sector.

Unite Students, the UK’s leading owner, manager and developer of student accommodation, has partnered with Streets of Growth, a leading youth intervention charity.

Unite Students, the UK’s leading owner, manager and developer of student accommodation, won Operator of the Year award at this year’s Property Week’s 2022 Student Accommodation Awards.

During our development of Hayloft Point, our flagship property in the heart of the London, a Museum of London Archaeology team discovered the Boar’s Head Playhouse, the most significant find during Unite Students’ 30 years of building properties.

What does the Higher Education sector need to know about student risk-taking behaviours, and how they can support students and reduce harm? Our expert sector panel speaks to Jenny Shaw.

Unite Students has won a major award for its market-leading performance and student support during the last year.

In conversation with Luke Brooker, Head of Delivery at Unite Students. He spoke to us about his role, mental health, wellbeing initiatives onsite and overcoming practical challenges to deliver these.

On World Mental Health Day, Caleb spoke to us about his role as a Wellbeing Champion at Unite Students and why it is important for the business to offer support to employees.

Student mental health support is a shared challenge across the Higher Education sector, and a holistic, collaborative approach is fundamental to addressing it. Unite Students’ new student support framework, ‘Support to Stay’, aims to join up our student support services with those of our university partners.

The July meeting of the Unite Students Commission on Living Black at University explored how knowledge and data could be better harnessed to meet the needs of Black students and staff.

Unite Students is giving its employees a £500 one-off payment to help with the rising cost of living.

The Unite Students Commission on Living Black at University launched in April to effect sector-wide change in improving Black students’ accommodation experience. Representing sector bodies, charities and universities who are already running projects to improve the Black student experience, here are the Commissioners making this work happen.

Since inception, the Unite Foundation has supported more than 500 estranged and care leaver students to access Higher Education, and has this year announced an expanded cohort of 100 scholarship students. This is the story of our role in making the Unite Foundation’s amazing work possible.

Unite Students, the UK’s largest operator of student accommodation, has had its equality, diversity and inclusion practices recognised by Manchester Pride.

On the 50th anniversary of the UK’s first official pride march, we’ve caught up with two of our LGBTQ+ employees to understand what working at Unite Students in 2022 means for them.

In January, Becca Hayhurst joined the organisation as our new Head of Student Support. We caught up with Becca to find out how she’s finding her role, what she’s been up to since joining, and details of our new student support strategy.

The Unite Students Commission on Living Black at University recently held its first in-person meeting in Birmingham, on the topic of integration – here are some of the key themes that emerged from the meeting.

In June, we welcomed nine interns to Unite Students as part of our partnership with 10,000 Black Interns.

Unite Students has partnered with UCAS to deliver key skills in making the ‘leap’ to university to more prospective students.

A sense of belonging is essential to a positive working and living experience, underpinned by factors including equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and wellbeing. As such, Unite Students is shifting away from the phrase ‘EDI’ and towards new language which more precisely captures the holistic nature of inclusion.

Unite Students has committed to donating 1% of annual profits to social initiatives going forward, amounting to a commitment of c.£2million a year.

Unite Students, the UK’s largest provider of student accommodation, has been named Student Accommodation Operator of the Year at leading property sector awards, RESI. It was singled out for the way it supported students in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Its student rent support provided since the outbreak of the pandemic totalled in excess of £100 million.

Family estrangement is sadly all too common for LGBTQ+ students. For Mental Health Awareness Week 2022, Fiona Ellison - Director of the Unite Foundation - shares what the Foundation is doing to support estranged and care experienced LGBTQ+ students, and what Higher Education institutions can do to support their mental health and wellbeing.

We take a deep-dive into current student mental health trends, the latest thinking in the student support sector, and what this means for the future of student mental health.

Growth in student numbers in the UK shows no sign of abating. Students need homes, and many live in Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs), putting pressure on local housing. With HMOs in London containing an average of 2.5 people, a new 1,000-bed student accommodation scheme would potentially free up 400 homes. This is the scale of the problem that purpose-built student accommodation providers could solve.

In the second of a two-part series, Jenny Shaw – Higher Education External Engagement Director at Unite Students – offers her insights into helping students to feel a sense of belonging in their accommodation.

With the number of Muslim students in the UK likely to grow in the coming years, we look at what challenges they face, and how we’re supporting our Muslim community at Cambrian Point, Cardiff, to celebrate Ramadan.

Unite Students was proud to be a Gold Sponsor of National Student Pride, the UK’s biggest LGBT+ student event, last weekend (8-10th April). Here’s what we did at the event, why we did it, and what we’re doing to support LGBTQ+ students and employees here at Unite.

Unite Students has launched a national commission to support the higher education and private student accommodation sectors’ response to its recently published Living Black at University report.

A new Social Market Foundation report, sponsored by Unite Students, outlines how social patterning can influence prospective students' choice to go to university. Jenny Shaw, Higher Education External Engagement Director at Unite Students, outlines how the risk of not belonging can also affect the choice to go to university, and the impact that familiar, trusted careers advice can have on this.

The current UK cost of living crisis is affecting everyone, and students are no exception. Three experts share what the sector needs to know about the current situation, including our new survey data on the topic.

New independent research commissioned by Unite Students shows parents and students at university are feeling the impact of the rising cost of living. With financial anxiety at high levels, Unite has partnered with Blackbullion to offer support to students and parents in a free downloadable guide.

The Social Market Foundation has published a report, sponsored by Unite Students, which shows careers advice is still “socially patterned” - schools in wealthier areas tend to steer children towards higher education, while schools in less affluent places are more likely to emphasise vocational routes.

Unite Students has opened applications for the lease and management of a new community space at its Middlesex Street development in Tower Hamlets. It is hoped the new community space will be utilised sympathetic to the site’s heritage – a former Shakespearean-era playhouse.

International Women’s Day is an opportunity to celebrate the social, economic and cultural achievements of all women. Here, five Unite Students employees provide an insight – in their own words - into their experiences of gender equality.