Testimonial # 19

I am a mature student of 54 and graduated from Sussex in July last year with a first class honours and, to my surprise, two awards. Without my student advisor’s support this achievement just would not have been possible. On two occasions my student advisor prevented me from ditching the whole degree by skillful listening, advice, encouragement and putting in place the support that I needed quickly, fairly, expertly and sensitively.

On the first occasion, as a result of difficult circumstances and acute anxiety, she put me in contact with the University’s counselling services and encouraged me to defer for a year rather than give up completely. On the second occasion, she helped me overcome a short period of severe anxiety linked to long-term depression that was interfering with my ability to study.

I cannot express how grateful I feel towards her and how much I appreciated the student support at Sussex. I am, therefore, surprised and alarmed by the decision to cut student support. Universities have a duty of responsibility for the well-being of their students, and it is imperative that students are not disadvantaged by difficulties they may face whether these are due to disability or problems - financial or emotional. During my degree at Sussex, three of my fellow mature students used this service and I personally sent a young student to a student advisor when I became seriously alarmed about her health.

Students benefit from this service and, surely the university also benefits because it engenders higher success rates, student satisfaction, enables students who face difficulties (like me) to complete their degrees and, importantly, a service that can offer support and tend to a mix of students from different circumstances and of different ages.