Health, wellbeing and opportunities for all

The Covid pandemic has increased the focus we give to the welfare of both our employees and students. Alongside this, our values continue to inspire us to strive for a culture where all can succeed, whatever their background, gender or ethnicity.
We work in a way that is designed to help students feel safe and secure in their accommodation. Well-trained teams, including a network of welfare champions and resident ambassadors, are on hand across our properties to build a vibrant student community and provide a vital safety net if required.
We know that having a team that is engaged and feels supported is critical to making sure we can deliver on this. We want to do more to provide interesting career pathways within our organisation and to ensure opportunities for progression are available for all. We are focused on greater representation of gender and ethnicity in senior positions and creating a more diverse workforce across our organisation, where individuals can be different and valued for being different. Changing mindsets through the lens of inclusion helps us to transform communities and creates room for everyone in line with our values.
Research overwhelmingly shows that when employees work for an inclusive business where equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing are at the heart of business decisions, there is better organisational bias, higher performance and productivity and bottom line business advantage.
THE UNITE FOUNDATION
With our support, the Foundation provides a home at university to 80 new students each year. To date it has awarded 514 scholarships and 254 scholars have graduated.
2022 marks the Foundation’s 10th anniversary so we have renewed our commitment to the Foundation, agreeing a long-term funding commitment which will help the charity realise the ambitions of a new five-year strategic plan.
The Foundation continues to develop new delivery models enabling university partners to participate in its scholarships, increasing the number of accommodation scholarships available.
Leapskills:
Supporting young people to better prepare for independent living
In response to research showing that 61% of young people are apprehensive or nervous about making the leap to independent living, Unite Students has created interactive workshop, endorsed by the Department for Education, for use with schools. It helps to prepare 17- and 18-year-olds for this important transition and has been used by more than 3,000 young people.

Rise in eating disorders in students
New research by Unite Students, the UK’s largest provider of student accommodation, shows a rise in the number of university applicants suffering with eating disorders and other mental health conditions.

KEY TARGETS:
- We aim to improve employee engagement.
- We aim to reduce employee turnover and abstenteeism.
- We look to increase successful outcomes from student wellbeing interactions.
- Achieve a 50/50 gender split in the Unite leadership team by the end of 2023.
- Filling 60% of managerial roles internally by the end of 2023.
- Make sure minority groups are fairly represented in employees and management by the end of 2024.