923.00 p (
+14.00) 
A POSITIVE IMPACT FOR STUDENTS AND YOUNG PEOPLE
A POSITIVE IMPACT FOR
STUDENTS AND YOUNG PEOPLE
Investing in young people and creating room for everyone. Our ambition is to be a leader on student inclusion, wellbeing and success.
This year has seen us going further than ever to support students and young people, aiming to advance opportunities, inclusion and belonging on a national scale. Our ambition goes beyond the students who live with us, to create positive change across the PBSA sector as a whole.
Case study
Going further to support student wellbeing
In 2023 we refined our approach on student wellbeing to align more closely with that of the wider HE sector. Our new Support to Stay framework provides a structure to support student wellbeing and mental health, defining graduated categories of concern.
Students are encouraged to give informed consent for us to share concerns with their university. Together with data-sharing agreements with university
partners, this ensures more joined-up support can be provided. This approach also gives greater clarity on the type of concern which can be managed safely by our property teams, and which require escalation to our regional support team.
Our new Student Assistance Programme, provided by Health Assured, offers all resident students a 24/7 mental health and counselling helpline.
Employees can also call the helpline any time of day or night either on behalf of or concerning a student.
A central part of this programme is our Resident Ambassador scheme, which we continue to develop. Resident Ambassadors are paid students living in our buildings, who are paid to work alongside our teams, providing peer-to-peer support and helping to deliver events and activities that create an inclusive and supportive environment
young people
Putting student safety first
Student safety is of the utmost importance at Unite Students. Our Birmingham North team’s focus on safety was recognised at our Stars Awards in November, picking up three awards.
We caught up with Davinder Sanghera, General Manager, and Dean Ditta, Student Safety Manager (Nights), about their award-winning safety approach.
Unite Foundation
We have continued as a partner and principal corporate donor to the wholly independent Unite Foundation, a charity which we set up over a decade ago to provide accommodation
scholarships to young people without family support.
Sector leading research
Through our sector-leading thought leadership, we also help universities and the wider Higher Education sector to understand the changing needs of students and applicants. Our research places a strong focus on inclusion, wellbeing and sustainability, while our Accommodation Matters podcast explores emerging sector issues on a monthly basis.