Supporting university students’ mental well-being is an integral task for higher education institutions (HEIs). With student attrition being strongly associated with student mental health, an alternative to study discontinuation is taking a Leave of Absence (LoA). However, there is little research exploring the experiences of students who have taken a LoA and returned to study following this, as well as their experiences of university institutional support. This study aims to fill this gap in examining how university students can be better supported based on interviews with students who experienced mental health issues during their studies.
In all, 11 students from a highly ranked British University who had taken an LoA from study were interviewed. A reflexive inductive thematic analysis was conducted to identify their unique experiences of support before their LoA.
Three main themes were generated during analysis including: LoA is a necessary alternative to the continuation of studies, support-seeking behaviours and perceived effectiveness of support sought. Moreover, support-seeking behaviours appeared to be largely dependent on the participants’ levels of mental health literacy and the severity of their mental health crisis, with the perceived adequacy of university-provided support dependant on whether it was matched to students’ level of need.
Findings from this study provide insights that could be beneficial to UK HE institutions, highlighting the need for tailored support and greater signposting and accessibility to the correct support services available.
