Opinion: What universities must do to tackle student loneliness

Considering recent findings that 70% of students in UK university halls feel lonely or isolated, Dr Douglas Howat, Dean of Students at Coventry University Group, explores the pressures intensifying student loneliness and what more universities must do to provide visible and consistent support.

Students that decide to leave home for university often experience a rollercoaster of emotions. Highs of excitement and determination are often accompanied by lows of anxiety and homesickness as students find their feet. In previous years, these feelings were seen as a normal adjustment phase, easing as routines formed and friendships were made, but the experience of starting university today is different.

Many young students are now digital natives, growing up immersed in technology and social media and interacting with the world in ways previous generations did not. Their formative years were disrupted by a global pandemic and their late adolescence has been shaken by a cost-of-living crisis. As a result, we’re seeing the anxieties that once eased as students settled in now lingering, deepening and turning into sustained loneliness and isolation.

Sacrificing socialising for survival

One of the greatest challenges is spiralling costs, forcing many to spend hours working alongside studying. Time that might once have been spent spontaneously and socially is squeezed, leaving students at risk of missing the moments that make university most memorable: the opportunities to explore independence, discover themselves and grow outside study and work.

Financial inequality is widening the divide between those who can afford the full university experience and those who cannot. Universities’ support services have never been more necessary, but this support cannot simply exist as a lifeline; it must act as both a shield and constant anchor to help prevent students developing issues in the first place.

Making support more visible

Services that support students financially, socially and emotionally provide stability in what could otherwise become a stressful and isolating experience. University support is there – it always has been – yet its impact is limited if students don’t see it, can’t find it or feel able to access it early. Visibility, familiarity and trust are just as important as the services themselves. We invest heavily in our Success Coaches, Peer Mentoring, Cost-of-Living Hub and Health and Wellbeing Support, and keep them prominent on our website and promoted through social media, as we know these are the channels that reach students most effectively.

Loneliness as a systemic issue

Too often, loneliness is framed as a consequence of students not trying hard enough, when in reality the very structures that have long defined traditional university life could be a large part of the problem. Timetables that clash with peers and the expectation to balance study, work and socialising without pause are at odds with how students now want to learn and what they value most. Part of Generation Z, they prize wellbeing, balance, authentic connections and flexibility in every aspect of their lives.

If students are to feel like they belong, the community itself needs to reflect them, which is why universities need to rethink not just how courses are delivered, but also the opportunities they offer, ensuring students can feel part of the community in ways that fit their lives and priorities. We have never shied away from doing things differently and it was the principle of putting students first that inspired our move to six intakes across the academic year and a six-week block teaching model, giving greater flexibility and allowing students to balance study, social lives and wellbeing.

It’s also about recognising that many students now want to engage digitally in ways that feel familiar and comfortable. Platforms we use, such as Aula, support this by giving students a space to ask questions, comment on each other’s work, join discussions and stay connected with lecturers. At the same time, it preserves the sense of community that comes from being on campus, helping students feel part of their course and supported as they study remotely.

Embracing the generational differences of students

It has become all too easy to attribute loneliness to excessive screen time and social media use, but this ignores that most students today have never known a world offline. Digital spaces are not a replacement for human connections; they are an extension of them and a way of maintaining friendships and identities that existed long before university began. For many, particularly during the pandemic, online spaces offered continuity and reassurance at a time when in-person contact almost disappeared.

The issue is not that students are less social or less interested in relationships, but that economic and systemic conditions can make in-person connections harder to sustain. When time is swallowed by busy schedules and financial stress, friendships inevitably struggle to blossom naturally.

At Coventry, we understand the generational differences between students and believe that university should be A Place You Can Be – without students having to justify or prematurely define who they are now or who they will become. Through flexible teaching models and environments that support every high and low of the university journey, we have created a space where taking time to find your way is not seen as falling behind or as failure, and where support is visible early, helping students navigate what is a huge change in their young lives.

If universities are serious about addressing loneliness, we must embrace students for who they are, moulded by the very different world in which they are growing up and build experiences around that exact reality, rather than continuing to expect them to adapt to structures that no longer fit them. Only then do we give them the best chance to flourish into who they will become.