A leading charity Support Line is bracing itself for record calls later this week when A-Level results are released and students struggle to find university places. Yet the charity will not be offering advice and support to disappointed teenagers, but to the university staff whose job it is to guide applicants through the admissions system.
Recourse, a charity offering practical and emotional support to academic and administrative staff working in the post 16 education sector, fears that a lack of available places and public spending cuts will leave university staff overworked and harassed.
“It is easy to forget that this is not just a difficult time for students and their families, but for lecturers, tutors and admissions staff too” explains Julian Stanley, Chief Executive of Recourse. “They need to make important decisions that can affect someone’s entire life and future career in a very short space of time. Often they are dealing with disappointed or disgruntled people and while they are, of course, professional and prepared, there is little thought paid to their own wellbeing and the emotional support that they may need.”
In August 2009, the charity, formerly the College and University Support Network, received 120 calls to its Support Line. There were 725 views of the charity’s factsheets in its InfoCentre over the same period, with the top 5 most popular factsheets including titles such as ‘Seven types of difficult people’, ‘Quick mental relaxation’, ‘Time management’, ‘How to sleep well’ and ‘How working extra hours can impact you’. This year Julian Stanley is expecting more.
“We know that in the current economic climate staff are expected to do more for less and when this is combined with a shortage of university places, it is clear that lecturers, tutors and admissions staff will be working harder than ever, but disappointing more than ever. There will be a lot of unhappy people next week and it is important that they have a place they can go to get the appropriate support and advice.”
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: “Thousands of students who have been encouraged to apply to university throughout their academic lives will miss out on a place this year. The people tasked with staffing the clearing phones will be the ones who have to try and pick up the pieces. There is no doubt that 2010 is going to be the toughest year and it is important that the staff trying their best to help the students also know that there is support available to them.”
The charity will be producing a new factsheet with specific advice on how to deal with clearing as well an additional e-newsletter with tips and advice for university and college staff.
