Finding support early on is a pain so here's a summary.

The adjustment from home life to university and adulthood is a BIG one.  Honestly, 1 year in, I’m barely managing to get a grip of it and I always prided myself on independence. That’s why most universities, including LSE put a lot of effort into supporting their students, especially the freshers. 

So, what support is available at university? 

LSE has a multitude of channels for support, each level of the university has something to offer. The main banner carrier of wellbeing support is the LSE disability and wellbeing service, infact they’ve probably already been in touch with you if you declared a health condition on UCAS (you don’t need a diagnosis to see them). 

Wardens & Sub-Wardens

This is Halls life so we've got to start with support in your halls first. Each LSE hall has a warden and some sub-wardens. Their entire role is pastoral, any issue going on in halls regarding your wellbeing they’ll be on the scene for. Wardens are members of academic staff who live in halls to help look after you. Sub-wardens are post-grad students who have a similar role just a little less responsibility.

If you feel a little lost, anxious, or just generally worried about your time at university when you’re in halls, I always recommend saying hello to your wardens, even if it’s just over email.

LSE Wellbeing Service:

LSE’s central wellbeing service offers counselling up to 6 sessions in total. Which seems short but if you have 1 session every two weeks you get relatively long term support. Their office is also just a calm place you’re free to hang out in if you need a quite spot. 

They also offer group sessions and “wellbeing workshops” such as LGBTQ+ support workshops. 

I know sometimes taking the first step to tell someone you’re not doing the best isn’t always easy which is part of why you can self-refer to the wellbeing service. 

LSE Life:

Whilst LSE Life isn’t primarily a source of wellbeing support, the work they do is inherently intertwined with wellbeing. They work on your general academic skills and wellbeing being a fountain of knowledge when academically you're overwhelmed and need someone to vent at whilst they support you. 

If you need someone to read over that first assignment you’re struggling with or simply to help you plan out your week, LSE Life should be your first point of call. 

Peer Supporters:

Peer supporters are students who want to give back. Many peer supporters would have struggled during their introduction to university, so they want to make sure their peers get as much support as possible. 

You can call them, meet up in person, text, or even email. They’re there whenever you need someone to talk to. They’re trained by the wellbeing service to help with basically anything you could be dealing with.  

It might seem awkward to go to one of your peers that you’ve never met to vent but they signed up for it, if they didn’t want to help you, they wouldn’t have gone through the training for it.

Academic Mentors:

Everyone at LSE has an academic mentor. They're academic staff from your department assigned to provide academic and pastoral support whenever you need it. It’s always a good idea to get to know your mentor by booking an office hour with them during your first term and chatting about how you’re doing, wellbeing wise and academically. 

They’re there to weave together your academics and mental well-being. They might seem a little scary when they’re a professor, but remember they had to do a degree and likely went through similar stuff to you. 

Departmental Wellbeing Staff:

Most departments at LSE have at least one member of staff dedicated to the wellbeing of the department’s students. They offer general advice about your studies but are also a source of ad hoc support and can signpost you to LSE’s other support mechanisms. 

My department (Government) has their student advice staff on the Student Hub for you to book their office hours just like a professor. 

Personally, I’ve found them to be some of the most responsive and useful wellbeing resources at university and are amazing when you’re first adjusting. 

Ps. they’re never going to shame you for struggling academically, they’re there to work the university regulations to your favour, not to force you to abide by them.