March marks University Mental Health Month and there is a spotlight put on universities to assess what they are doing to provide support to their students. A new study has revealed which UK universities offer the most accessible mental and physical healthcare to their students with the University of Westminster and the University of Edinburgh ranking joint highest in the UK.

This comes as nearly half of university students have reported that their mental health and well-being have worsened since the beginning of the academic year. Survey respondents also claimed that maintaining physical health has been a struggle due to increasing costs.*

The study, conducted by ED treatment providers, UK Meds, ranks the UK’s universities by examining NHS data to find the number of health services and clinics in the postcodes of each major UK university.

The study revealed that both universities met the criteria for the ‘platinum tier’ as they gained health accessibility scores of 92.43 out of 100 for their access to GPs, pharmacies and sexual health clinics. This is over 300% higher than the likes of Exeter and Lancaster.

The University of Westminster has 40 pharmacies, 11 sexual health clinics and 17 GPs in the surrounding area, while the University of Edinburgh has 19 pharmacies, 6 sexual health clinics and 48 GPs.

In addition, government data has revealed a spike in the number of students catching STIs at universities. In the last year, there were 4.7% more diagnoses of new STIs in the UK since 2022. And with young people aged 15 to 24 years remaining the most likely to be diagnosed with STIs, sexual health facilities are essential at university.**