The impact of psychological distress and university counselling on academic outcomes: analysis of a routine practice‐based dataset

Whole university approaches to student mental health and well-being increasingly involve university counselling and mental health services (UCMHSs) as key stakeholders in higher education and the fulfilment of good academic outcomes. However, previous research using routine outcome measures has focussed on psychological distress only. Research is needed to demonstrate the value of university counselling on academic outcomes. This study aimed at profiling the psychological distress of a student sample according to the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation—Outcome Measure (CORE-OM); measuring the change in perceived impact of problems on academic outcomes, and measuring the perceived impact of counselling on academic outcomes. Students from two UK university counselling services completed the CORE-OM and the Counselling Impact on Academic Outcomes (CIAO) questionnaire as part of routine practice. After counselling, 67.4% (n = 323) of students with planned endings to counselling showed at least reliable improvement on the CORE-OM. Significant reductions in the perceived impact of problems on all academic outcomes were also found. On average, 83% (n = 398) of students found counselling helpful for academic outcomes to at least a limited extent. University counselling was found to reduce psychological distress and the impact of problems on academic outcomes. Psychometric examination of the CIAO tool is warranted to strengthen its use. The need for robust data across UCMHSs is demonstrated by both the strengths and limitations of this study.