Whilst starting university is incredibly exciting, some students find it hard in the first few months, and may struggle to settle in. But they’re not alone, and in this episode we look at the vast support structure that Leeds Beckett offers, from wellbeing to money matters, meeting staff from those services, and students who’ve accessed them. Find out more at https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/student-information/student-advice/

Voiceover: (00.00)

This is Inside Leeds Beckett, a podcast from Leeds Beckett University. Episode three. Help and support.

Student: (00.08)

Just speaking to as many people as you can gives you a real opportunity to form those connections.

Student: (00.13)

I was absolutely overwhelmed with a sense of safety and that's really important for me.

Student: (00.19)

Find dedicated times within your week just to kind of sit and go over your uni work and do your assignments. You don't have to be doing it all day, every day.

Bailey: (00.29)

Hi there. Welcome back. I'm Bailey and this is inside Leeds. Beckett looking at life as a first year student in Leeds. How it all works, how to get the most out of it and how to help settle in at Leeds Beckett. And while the first year of university is an amazing experience, there are times when it's not easy and all of us need to reach out for help and support at some point. Every student needs support in different ways. It could be around money, mental health workloads, or anything. So in this episode, we're looking at the help and support you get along the way.

Alex: (00.57)

Our main message is don't kind of feel like you're struggling on your own. What I've talked about is very, very common for first year students. So please just come and talk to us if you've got any concerns.

Bailey: (01.09)

That's Alex Batty from the student advice and support team at Leeds Beckett, and we'll find out more about how they help students shortly. But first, I caught up with Chelea, who's a student at Leeds Beckett, to talk through the help and support at uni, how you access it and when you need it.

Hi Chelea, how are you?

Chelea: (01.24)

Hi, Bailey. I'm very well, thank you.

Bailey: (01.26)

So thinking about when you started here at Leeds Beckett, how easy was it to settle into university?

Chelea: (01.32)

I'd say for me personally settle into university. It was a bit of a mix, like starting university. Of course, it's like a big change for anyone, and it is quite a big change for me because I did an apprenticeship first, so I kind of took like a year out. So it definitely did take time to adjust. But luckily enough, I am from Leeds, so this is my home city. So I did feel quite comfortable in the environment.

Bailey: (01.52)

Yeah, that makes a big difference doesn't it. When you when you feel comfortable in a place as well.

Chelea: (01.56)

Yeah, definitely. But I'm not the type of person that likes to get involved in a lot of things. So I applied to be a student ambassador. I joined the women's rugby team. I joined the society. So that definitely helped me like get close with the staff and like all the pupils and things like that.

Bailey: (02.09)

Yeah. That's amazing. It definitely sounds like you've made the most of your time at university so far. So starting university can be a big change for lots of students. Obviously, it's different from the learning that you've done before. So what are some of the things that you found helpful when adjusting to life at uni?

Chelea: (02.25)

I'd say what was really helpful for me, like as I started joining clubs and societies, getting to know people, and especially when, you know, like everybody's from different cities, you think, oh, they might not have the same interest as me or hobbies as me. Like they might not want to hang out with me, but literally everybody does. And like, in terms of like the workload and stuff, I'd say like, it's really good to kind of like keep on top of things. I use my notes app just like to make a checklist of like every day to make sure that I was doing like my readings and things like that, that I knew on my assignment due dates, like talking to people and keeping on top of things is definitely the best way that I settled it.

Bailey: (03.00)

Yeah. Perfect. That sounds like really good advice, to be fair. So thinking about the support side of things now, when you started at Leeds, if you or any of your friends ever needed help or support, was it quite easy to access?

Chelea: (03.12)

From my experience, fairly easy to access. There's like academic support, there's money support, uh, wellbeing, careers advice. And I think like the hardest part is not like, it's not like going and asking for the help and support. It's like knowing because like, if you don't know that there's any support and you need it, you're not really gonna attempt to reach out. But if you know that it's there, you might think, you know what, I'll just try it this one time. It might not work out for me. It might not be the best thing for me, but at least I tried. So there's definitely support of that, which is lovely.

Bailey: (03.41)

Yeah, I'd agree with that. From my experience, the uni has definitely been very supportive and extremely helpful for anything that I've ever needed. So practically, if you need support, who would be your first point of call? Like who would you go to if you had an issue with mental health, maybe student accommodation, things like that.

Chelea: (03.59)

So personally, for me, the first person that I probably go to are my academics, because you see them a few times a week, you get really familiar with them, you get really comfortable with them. They are all really sweet and nice. And of course, because they're academics, they know all the services available. They know who to put you through to. And also, a good thing about Beckett is every so often they'll always send out like emails about like all the services they've got, whether that's like money or mental health or accommodation. And there's always links and things like it can be more like anonymous, you know, if you're too shy to go in person, you can make a referral online. And we have like accommodation teams, you have like teams for like each section of like services and they are specialised in that. So there's always somebody to go to.

Bailey: (04.40)

Yeah. So it sounds like as a first point of call, it's a good idea to go to your academics and then they can always refer you to another service that you might need. Would you agree with that?

Chelea: (04.51)

Yeah. Yes, definitely.

Bailey: (04.53)

So as you've moved through uni, have you noticed that the type of support that students need might change over time? So for example, other things that they can help with in first year that are different to second and then help going into third year, for example.

Chelea: (05.05)

Yes, definitely. Like you need change over time. So I'm currently going into my third year. So what I found in first year was the help that I needed was more based on like settling in and maybe like making friends and like adjusting to being like really independent in myself as an adult. But like, as I moved into second, my challenges became more about like balancing my deadlines. I was more focused on like how to get like a first in an essay, what type of citations I needed to use placements in like looking into that and thinking about like my career and like, if I wanted to do a master's after my undergrad, which I do want to do, which is like, nice that I know that so early on. So it's, yeah, just things like that moving from like being comfortable to being like, right. I want to get like a really good grade in my assignment.

Bailey: (05.46)

Yeah. It sounds like there really is something for everyone at every stage. So my last question for you today, if someone's listening to this now and for whatever reason they're struggling with something, what would you want them to know about asking for support? What one thing would you tell them about reaching out for help?

Chelea: (06.03)

I'd probably say like, like just because you're in university and like you're a young adult now, it doesn't mean that you have to struggle on your own. There's so many people, even friends, staff that are literally there to help you. And reaching out is never the wrong thing to do. It's always like the best thing to do. Like I said, even getting that like buzz and confidence from like knowing that I had the confidence to go and ask somebody for help, it's like a really nice feeling. And like, even if you're not sure what service you need, because there's absolutely loads. Just start by like talking to one person. They can refer you to the next person, the next person. It's like a really nice, like minded circle. You'll always like, find what you need.

Bailey: (06.39)

Yeah. Perfect. Thank you so much for sharing your insight with us today. It's been really helpful.

Chelea: (06.45)

Thank you for having me.

Keira: (06.50)

In first year, I would definitely say that it is normal to need support. I personally did need it as well. Just because moving so far away is hard and making all these new friends. So it is very normal to ask someone for support. Like don't be afraid to speak to people about it.

Bailey (07.07):

In this episode, we're looking at the help and support available at Leeds Beckett and everyone needs support at some point. First week, first or second year, or whenever. If you're struggling with something right now, there are loads of people ready to help. All the details are online and we've put a link in the podcast notes too. So we've heard from a student about their experiences with help and support. Now let's talk to someone who makes sure that support is available and easy to access across the university. Alex Batty works in the advice and support team at Leeds. Beckett and I caught up with her to talk through the help and support available for students, and to get some practical advice on how to reach out for support.

Hi, Alex, welcome to the podcast. So before we start, can you briefly talk through your role at Leeds Beckett and what it is that you do?

Alex: (07.50)

Yeah, of course. So my official job title is Student Life Coordinator. So I'm based within the student advice team work alongside a great team of student life advisors, and we provide support, advice and guidance to any student who might need a little bit of extra help while they're studying at Leeds Beckett, the student advice team itself forms part of a wider support within student services. So we also have within our service student wellbeing, disability advice and student money as well. So we all work very closely together.

Bailey: (08.26)

Great. So in this episode, we're looking at the help and support available at university. And would you agree that everyone needs help and support at some stage?

Alex: (08.36)

Yeah, absolutely. And the help and support can look really different. And it looks really different to everyone. So it might be that sometimes students need help just with their studies, and that can come from a course team or their, um, school that their course is linked to. Um, but we know from our experience in working with students that things in life happen. You know, life carries on even when you know, studies are happening. And that's what we're here for really is when things kind of maybe might be a little bit more difficult, or there's things going on outside of, of uni that are impacting studies. So yeah, I mean, we can help in, in a variety of ways, but certainly, you know, everybody needs a little bit of help every now and then. And even if you know that that comes from friends and family too. It's, it's always going to be needed at some point.

Bailey: (09.27)

Yeah, definitely. I would agree with that. So what are the different types of support you can get at uni? Because I know there are some obvious ones, but there's probably a lot of things behind the scenes and things you wouldn't expect that you can get help with. So could you tell us a few different ones?

Alex: (09.41)

Yeah, of course. I've already sort of mentioned a few within student services. So I mean, it's probably quite obvious that the student wellbeing side of things is probably one of the, um, the main ones that people would associate getting some help with. And that kind of comes in the form of support from some mental health practitioners or counsellors. So that's probably one of the main obvious ones. And a lot of students do access that as well. And they are a very busy team, as you can imagine. We also have our disability advice team, so they provide support for students that have either got a disability or maybe don't even know that they have a disability, and also those with long term mental health conditions as well. It might be that if you've had support from your school, so you might have had some reasonable adjustments at school or you've had something that you need some help with that maybe you've not had help with at school before, but it might be something that actually you think, now I might need to get some help with that. So that's what the disability advice team are there for. We also have our student money team who again, might be one of the more, more obvious support that's available. They provide a lot of financial help budgeting, which is a huge part of going to university. We also have, like I mentioned, a student advice team, which is the wonderful team that I work in. Um, and they're based within our student services centre’s at both campuses. So we have a centre at the Headingly campus, and we also have one at the city campus in the Leslie Silver building as well. And they are essentially there as your, your kind of main way in to access student services support. So if you're not really sure what help you need or think you might need some help, but you don't know where to go. They're a really great, um, starting point. Uh, but I would say there's loads of different areas of support and that's just student services. You know, there's lots of different teams within the university, like student immigration advice and compliance. There's the global village team that support international students. So I would kind of say, you know, just to have a look, if you're not sure what support you you need to access or you're not sure what's there, then obviously come to us. Um, but also it is there, so please don't be afraid to ask for it.

Bailey: (11.54)

Thank you. Thank you for that insight. I'm sure that'll be really helpful for students listening to this. So do you find that for first year students specifically, there are particular areas that they may need extra support in for that first year?

Alex: (12.09)

Absolutely. Yeah. There is. It's definitely there's some common themes, um, for first year students, the main one is probably settling in. The change can be, um, quite different for undergraduates or for younger students. Being away from home is often a kind of area that's a little bit more challenging. And some find the transition to academic studies as well, whether that's if you're transitioning from college or sixth form, or if you're kind of a mature student going back into academic studies as well, then that can be an adjustment. Budgeting, financial support, financial help, needing some of that, um, kind of guidance is, is certainly a common theme, particularly when, you know, receiving student loans. And, um, for some, it's maybe the first time they've had that, that sort of amount of money as well. So just being able to manage that carefully. So there are some really sort of common themes. But what our main message is, you know, it don't kind of feel like you're, you're struggling on your own. Um, what I've talked about is very, very common for first year students. So please just come and talk to us if you've got any concerns.

Bailey: (13.15)

So how does it work when you need help with something? Who do you go and speak to? Who do you turn to? Who's your first point of call?

Alex: (13.23)

It very much depends on the help that you need. So like I said, for any kind of academic studies, we'd always recommend speaking to your course team or your course administrator or your academic school. It varies in different areas as to who's best to speak to. My kind of main advice and what I would say is if you're not sure. So even if it is an academic question, but you don't even know who to speak to, just come and speak to student advice. Like I said, we're based in the student services centres on both campuses. You can reach us via telephone and via email as well. So if you're not able to get on to site, um, you can reach us in different ways to, and we'll be more than happy to kind of either help point you in the right direction. If it's a little bit more help that you might need, you might be referred to one of the student life advisors. But I would say student advice are your first point of call. And then we can certainly help you from there.

Bailey: (14.16)

And if somebody is listening to this podcast right now, they're new to Leeds Beckett and they're struggling with something. What would you say to them? What would be your one tip or one piece of advice that you could give to them?

Alex: (14.26)

I've got so many pieces of advice. I would say, um, don't be afraid to reach out. Sometimes what you are feeling, if you're struggling, it's perfectly normal to feel like that. And there'll be a lot of people that might be feeling the same thing. And we have seen lots and lots of students in your position that need that help. So please, just don't be afraid to reach out. If you think that the question is a bit too small, you think, actually, you know, that's not what they're there for. It absolutely is. Anything that we can do to help, we will do so. Just come and talk to us.

Bailey: (15.01)

Great. Thank you so much. It's been lovely to speak to you, Alex, and thank you for your insight.

Alex: (15.06)

No problem. Lovely to chat to you, Bailey. Thank you very much.

Student: (15.11)

There's going to be a lot of help and support along the way. There will be a lot of peer to peer support and also from the staff and university.

Student: (15.18)

University is time for exploring, isn't it? Just got to dare to be brave, try new things, meet new people and have fun.

Bailey: (15.24)

Thanks for listening to a really important episode of Inside Leeds Beckett. Looking at all the support structures available for when you start uni, your time here will be an amazing one, and you have a whole team of people around you to make sure of that. And if you're struggling in any way, just reach out for the advice and support team, tutors, societies, other students, or anyone that we've talked about. Help is always available. In the next episode, we're going to move on to you, your degree and the academic side of uni. How hard is it? Like and subscribe and I'll see you then.