Awareness and perceptions of social prescribing among university students in the UK

Universities provide a key opportunity to deliver social prescribing, a care pathway that aims to connect people with non-medical forms of support within the community to address their social, emotional, and practical needs. However, it is unclear whether students in the UK are aware of social prescribing and whether it would be an acceptable form of support. We surveyed 775 university students across the UK who completed a questionnaire measuring awareness and perceptions of social prescribing. We described awareness and attitudes and used logistic regression to explore how they differed according to individual characteristics. We found an awareness-attitude paradox. Only 25% of students were aware of social prescribing, but attitudes were overwhelmingly positive once explained: 97% thought it could support mental health and wellbeing; 95% believed universities should offer it; and 89% would accept social prescribing if offered by a healthcare professional. Students who were older, postgraduates, and had English as their first language were among those with higher odds of being aware of social prescribing, but positive attitudes were more evenly reported across the sample. Our findings indicate that implementation efforts should prioritise awareness-raising and clear referral pathways, rather than increasing students' willingness to engage with social prescribing.