University of Surrey: Supporting Student Sports Participants
The Need
Mental health challenges among students, particularly those facing high-performance environments are reaching critical levels. Around 85% of UK students experience exam anxiety, with many finding the pressure unbearable.
Among university student-athletes, the risks are even more pronounced: 16–31% report moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms, and 25–48% experience moderate-to-severe anxiety. These figures reflect the intense demands of balancing academics, training, injuries, and performance expectations.
Emotional disorders like anxiety and depression are common, and stress from competition and fear of failure only heightens the risk. Injuries can trigger lasting depressive symptoms, sometimes persisting beyond an athlete’s sporting career. Without tailored mental health support, these young people face significant barriers to thriving both in education and in sport.
This is where Brave Mind can help, providing the right tools, environments, and understanding to help them navigate these pressures and protect their wellbeing.
What Brave Mind did
Brave Mind has partnered with Women’s Rugby at the University of Surrey over several years to support student-athletes in navigating the pressures of academic and sporting life. The collaboration began when the University Rugby President reached out via our website, seeking tailored mental health support for their teams.
In response, Brave Mind delivered a series of bespoke workshops. These included the impactful Fear of Failure session, which featured Brave Mind ambassador Marlie Packer and her teammate Rosie Galligan, offering personal insights and fostering open dialogue around performance anxiety and resilience.
To further innovate our support, we piloted the Anxiety Kit Bag with the teams, using the University as a testbed for feedback and refinement. Following the pilot, we facilitated a small focus group with student-athletes to gather qualitative insights. Their feedback directly informed the co-design of future sessions, ensuring our approach remained responsive, relevant, and student-led..
“Women’s rugby at the University of Surrey has been partnered with Brave Mind for a few years now and the sessions that they put on for us every year has been really beneficial to the girls both on and off the pitch”
The Impact
Following our workshops, the student president reported that players spoke openly about how sessions helped them manage the anxieties of exam season, pre-match nerves and the pressures of university life. The coping strategies provided have been implemented across the squad, particularly supporting new players as they navigated their first competitive matches.
“Women’s rugby at the University of Surrey has been partnered with Brave Mind for a few years now and the sessions that they put on for us every year has been really beneficial to the girls both on and off the pitch. Being able to relate to them about the different anxieties that come with playing rugby and being a student has allowed them to know that they are not alone during exam seasons and before big games. I know that many of the players have implemented the coping strategies that they have provided us with. They have also helped the new players coming through when it comes to their first match. Their work has had such a good impact on our players, and we would love to be able to continue partnering with them.” University of Surrey Women’s Rugby Union President.
References
85% of UK students experiencing exam anxiety.
Around 85% of students in the UK experience exam anxiety, with a significant number finding it unbearable.