The 2022 survey asked questions about loneliness for the first time and found nearly one in four (23%) reported feeling lonely “all” or “most” of the time.
This compares with only 5% of the general population reporting that they felt lonely “often” or “always”, according to an Office for National Statistics, Coronavirus and Loneliness, Great Britain survey, conducted between 3 April to 3 May 2020, in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Student Academic Experience Survey report said the results showed that “university has been a lonely place for students in the last year, even as restrictions have lifted”.
Among its conclusions and recommendations, the report said the levels of loneliness recorded by students were significantly higher than in the general population, even during the depths of the COVID lockdowns last year, and pointed out that other studies had also shown that “adolescents were more likely to experience high rates of depression and most likely anxiety as a result of the pandemic-related isolation”.
The report urged the UK government to continue to invest in student mental health in future years after the Westminster government pledged £15 million (US$18.8 million) in strategic grant funding devoted to supporting student mental health in 2021-22.
