Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of young people (a) attending and (b) not attending university who suffer from anxiety.

Through the Department of Education, we know that the Higher Education Statistics Agency reported that, in 2017/18, 24,815 UK resident entrants to higher education settings disclosed a diagnosed mental health condition such as anxiety. Robust data is not available to determine how much of this increase is down to increased disclosure resulting from reduced stigma, and how much is due to increased prevalence.

Any disclosure of diagnosed mental health conditions by higher education students to their institution is voluntary. The actual number of university students with diagnosed mental health conditions is therefore unknown.