Wellbeing & Safety

Your wellbeing, our priority

The Queen’s community is proudly supportive and inclusive, and we value your wellbeing. We understand there are times when life can feel a little overwhelming. It may be homesickness, the stress of your studies or the uncertainty of life in a new place. While your fellow Queeners can help you through the odd bad day, the College also offers professional services, and we urge you to turn to these if you are experiencing ongoing distress, anxiety, or other mental health concerns.

One of the most common causes of stress will be your studies; for first years, who have often done extremely well at school, the less structured and more competitive nature of university can be daunting. Our academic team, headed by the Dean and Academic Director, can help, as can the academic and residential tutors. We can also help you apply for special consideration from the university.

For matters that are more serious, you will see from corridor posters that there are several ways to get help. You can book appointments with our in-house Counsellor, who is here 3 days a week, and you can also access the Counselling services at each of the universities. We also have a link with a nearby external counselling service and can refer you on to their experts.

Student leaders run GYLIO (Get Your Life in Order) week each semester to encourage and support time for individual reflection, and to avoid blips in the road becoming giant speed bumps! You will no doubt face challenges throughout the academic year, so it’s important to prioritise your wellbeing and reach out for support in whatever way feels best for you.

A Safe and Respectful Community

At the heart of the Queen’s community is safety, support and respect, and we have worked hard to ensure the fair treatment of every one of our students and staff. In recent years we have improved our complaints processes, education and practice as we strive to raise awareness and build an environment of trust where students feel safe to come forward.

Our processes are robust, and we educate all our student leaders and residents about consent and bystander intervention. Our staff and student leaders are trained through the Centre Against Sexual Assault, and we have established a support system to empower survivors to speak out.

We hope that Queen’s strong tradition of student empowerment means all residents feel they will be heard, and that we will take swift action to remove perpetrators and support survivors. We urge any alumni who have experience mistreatment to come forward, so that we can promptly address any historical failings that we may have as an institution, and to offer ongoing support.

The most recent SAFE (sexual harm, discrimination, bullying and victimisation) report can be read here.