Deadlines and exams can make this a particularly stressful time of year. Your mental health is as important as your physical health and it is essential to seek help if you feel stressed, depressed or vulnerable.
The University and Liverpool Guild of Students will be running a series of initiatives throughout January to try to help ease the pressure you may be feeling.
If you have general exam queries, please feel free to contact the exam enquiries team on 0151 794 6750 or examsenq@liv.ac.uk.
Library on Tour
From Monday, 7 January to Thursday, 24 January the Library will be running the #LibraryonTour initiative, offering quiet study space for the assessment period. Check dates and times for each venue carefully as there is some variation.
| Where | When | Services |
| The Guild
· Elizabeth Gidney Room 1 · Elizabeth Gidney Room 2 · Library · Mandela Room |
9am – 9pm, 7 days per week, until 24 January
Closes at 5pm on 24January |
Library staff on site to help
Laptops available for loan |
| Management School
· Seminar Room 6 |
9am – 9pm, 6 days per week (not Saturdays)
Closes at 5pm on 24 January |
Library staff on site to help.
Laptops available for loan |
| Harrison Hughes Building
· Active Learning Lab (3rd Floor) |
9am – 9pm daily, 7 days per week until 24 January
Closes at 5pm on 24 January |
Library staff on site to help
Laptops available for loan |
| 502 Teaching Hub
· Flex 1 · Teaching Rooms 1 · Teaching Rooms 2 · Teaching Rooms 3 · Teaching Rooms 5 · Teaching Rooms 6 · Teaching Rooms 7 |
9am – 9.30pm, Monday 7 to Sunday 13 January | This venue will not be staffed but there will be supported via Library Chat |
Free access to Sport Liverpool
Exercise is a great way to reduce stress during the exam and assessment period. We’re offering free access to Sport Liverpool from Monday, 14 January for two weeks between 7-11am and 2-4pm. To register for free access, please complete this registration form. book onto classes, please contact the Sport Liverpool Reception on 0151 7943307.
Keep Your Cool
The Guild are on hand during deadline and exam season to make sure you keep your cool.
From 14 – 25 January, Officers and Guild staff will be heading to the Sydney Jones and Harold Cohen libraries over lunchtime with lots of free fruit and words of encouragement to help fuel your brain during a busy day of revision and assignments.
The Guild Advice Team offer free, confidential & non-judgmental advice in order to equip you with everything you need to make an informed decision. They deal with everything from housing issues to exam stress. Call 0151 794 6868 , email guildadvice@liv.ac.uk or come along to a drop-in appointment available between 1pm and 3pm weekdays.
Handy IT tools
These tools will help you access IT services during peak periods:
| PC Finder
PC Finder uses a GPS location service to help you find available PCs on campus. There are plenty of computers in Teaching Centres besides those in the libraries, so you’ll be able to find a computer to use near to your location if the libraries are busy. |
| Speed Stations
Located in the Rendall building, speed stations are designed for quick tasks like printing, checking emails or visiting websites. |
| Print Anywhere
You can easily print from your own device using Print Anywhere. This means you can work from your own laptop in the library, for example, and still use the printers there. |
| Self-service portal
If you need assistance with an IT problem, check out our self-service portal where you can browse our helpful knowledge articles and FAQs, request help or report an issue. |
Get support
Extra support is available, particularly if you feel you are suffering from more than a bout of exam nerves. The following are some useful contact details for University support services that are all free and confidential to access all year round:
- There is a daily Wellbeing Drop-In at the Alsop Building on University Square, staffed by our Wellbeing Advisers. During the exam period, the drop-in will be available 11am-3pm. If you need some advice or support about welfare or wellbeing, please come along to a drop-in session for practical and pastoral support. You don’t need to book – simply come along to the Student Welfare Advice and Guidance Information Point on the ground floor of the Alsop Building.
- University Counselling Service: The Counselling Service is available to help you address personal or emotional problems that get in the way of realising your full academic and personal potential. It offers free and confidential advice to students.
- Mental Health Advisory Service: If you feel concerned that you or a friend may have more complex mental health needs, then you can contact the Mental Health Advisory Service via email (mhas@liverpool.ac.uk) or by calling 0151 7942320 between 9am and 5pm Monday – Friday.
- SilverCloud free online self-help modules: Space from Stress, Anxiety, Depression and Space for Positive Body Image are online self-help modules that you can complete for free. The programme – which is based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy – will provide you with tools and techniques to help you manage stress, anxiety and depression and bring balance into your life. You can complete the programme at your own pace and time, either at home or on campus. Please note that neither your response to, nor your progress within, any of the modules within this programme are monitored by the Counselling Service or the University.
- Big White Wall: Big White Wall is an online mental health and wellbeing service that provides 24/7 online peer and professional support, with trained counsellors. Big White Wall provides a safe space online to get things off your chest, explore your feelings and learn how to improve and self-manage your mental health and wellbeing. Big White Wall is totally anonymous, so no one will know you’ve chosen to use it unless you tell them. More than three quarters of members feel better as a result of using the service and nearly 90% use Big White Wall outside of 9am-5pm. You can get support via the service at any time of the day or night, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
- Bibliotherapy resources: There is strong evidence to suggest that books can be effective as a form of self-help and this collection has been chosen by both healthcare professionals and readers who have benefited from them. Emotional and academic difficulties can be a common part of university life and this collection aims to provide information and support for dealing with a wide range of issues such as depression, anxiety, panic, building self-confidence and assertiveness. You can access the bibliotherapy collection in the Grove Wing of the Sydney Jones Library. The titles are listed on the Counselling Service website or can be accessed by searching the main library catalogue using subject words such as ‘anxiety’. Borrowing is confidential and information about your use of these books will not be disclosed to any outside parties.
- Relaxation Programme: The Relaxation Programme is available to stream and download and is designed to be used with a self-assessment relaxation diary. The programme can be downloaded here.
- Self Help Hub online: Access information about anxiety, depression, exam and academic worries, relationship problems, homesickness and bereavement.
There are also regular groups and workshops run by the Counselling Service. A list of other support networks you can access can be found on our Counselling Service webpages here, including The Samaritans who offer a 24-hour helpline (116 123), the Students Against Depression website, and Liverpool Light – a mental health café that provides a welcoming and safe space for people experiencing mental health related crisis. The service is run by trained mental health support staff and operates from 6pm to 12pm, seven days a week, offering an alternative to the use of A&E for people at times of crisis or in need of targeted social support out of hours.
If you or anyone else is in immediate danger, please call the police or ambulance service on 999.
The University is continuing to invest in mental health and wellbeing support for students and has recently recruited a new team of wellbeing advisers, two additional mental health advisers, an additional disability adviser and will soon be recruiting a CBT Therapist and additional counsellors to enhance our central services.