Higher Education Student Support Champion
Between June 2022 and June 2025, Nottingham Trent University’s former Vice-Chancellor, Professor Edward Peck, served as the Government’s Higher Education Student Support Champion. From June 2023, he also chaired the Higher Education Mental Health Implementation Taskforce.
The Student Support Champion role was established to help higher education providers strengthen their approaches to student wellbeing and to share effective practice across the sector.
Professor Peck’s final report as Student Support Champion was published by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) in May 2025.
In October 2025, the Department for Education appointed Professor Steve West, Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West of England, as the next Higher Education Student Support Champion.
Below you will find the outputs and publications from Professor Peck’s programme of work as Student Support Champion between 2022 and 2025.
Higher Education Mental Health Implementation Taskforce
- The Taskforce published its first report in January 2024 and followed up with a second report in December 2024
- Report on higher education student suicide deaths
- Edward provided further information on these measures in a briefing to Vice Chancellors, Principals, and Chairs of University and College Councils in July 2024
- More information on the Taskforce can be found on the Department for Education’s website
Compassionate Communications
- Compassionate Communications Statement
- Compassionate Communications Roundtable
- UCLAN: Compassionate Communications Working Group
- UCLAN: Fitness to Study becomes Support to Study
- University of Exeter: Developing Compassionate Communications
- University of Bristol: Assessment Designed For All
- Robert Gordon University: A Whole Institution Approach
- University of Sheffield: Taking a Trauma-Informed Approach
- Nurture-U: Compassionate Campus Project
Competency Framework for Responding to Students in Distress
Transition to Higher Education
- Report on improving transition to higher education
- Transition Roundtable One (experience of schools and colleges)
- Transition Roundtable Two (pre-enrolment information sharing)
- Transition Roundtable Three (implications for transition activities)