UCARMHSS - University of Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin Mental Health Student Service

Students who are studying at either the University of Cambridge or Anglia Ruskin University based within the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough areas and meet the criteria for the specialist support offered by UCARMHSS.

All students need to be registered with a GP in Cambridgeshire or Peterborough to access help from UCARMHSS. For more information about registering with a GP contact your Student Services team.

The care pathway is based on formulation and need rather than limited to specific diagnostic categories. The aim of the service is to provide timely, evidence-based mental health support and interventions to students to enable them to achieve their goals.
There is no upper age limit for accessing the service. 

The First Response Service provides 24 hour access, seven days a week, 365 days a year, to mental health care, advice and support.

For help in a mental health crisis out of hours, call 111 and press option 2.

Please contact your GP for local service details if you live outside Cambridgeshire or Peterborough.

For students at Anglia Ruskin University (Cambridge or Peterborough campuses), first contact the counselling and wellbeing service.

All referrals for students at the University of Cambridge are made by the University's Mental Health Advice Service (MHAS). For a referral to the MHAS, please speak to the wellbeing team at your college. You can also be referred to the MHAS if you are already a client of the Accessibility and Disability Resource Centre, Student Wellbeing Service, University Counselling Service or Harassment and Violence Support Service.

Students may also be referred into UCARMHSS via other CPFT services.

More details about support for students can be found below:
Anglia Ruskin University — Health and wellbeing
University of Cambridge — Get support

UCARMHSS offers a range of evidenced-based psychological and psychiatric therapies and treatments.
If you are a student referred to the service, you will first be offered an initial assessment, and then – in partnership with your clinician – if appropriate you will agree on a treatment plan. 

If further treatment is still required at the end of the plan, it may be offered by UCARMHSS, by another mental health service at CPFT, or by your university’s Student Support Service, as appropriate to meet your needs at that time.

We are a team of experienced mental health professionals working daily towards the recovery of students who are experiencing mental health difficulties such as psychosis, self-harm and suicidal thoughts, anxiety, depression, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

This is provided through timely access to evidence-based interventions through a multi-disciplinary team approach.

Each student’s needs will be carefully considered by the MDT to ensure there is a holistic, evidence-based approach to their care. 

The team is made up of the following staff: 

Service Manager
Consultant Psychiatrists
Consultant Psychologist
Highly Specialist Clinical Psychologist
Specialist Clinical Psychologists
Mental Health Practitioners
Business Support Manager
Senior Administrator

Below you can find the details for other services and groups that you may find helpful while waiting for an appointment.

• How Are You Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
• Keep Your Head Adult Mental Health
• The Cambridge Group Therapy Centre
• Relate Cambridgeshire and Fenland for Relationship Counselling
• Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and South Lincolnshire Mind
• Richmond Fellowship housing and employment support
• Fitness to boost mental health
• Active living Cambridgeshire
• Cambridge Samaritans
• Peterborough Samaritans

UCARMHSS will work collaboratively with the University of Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin University and other support services so that we can use all available resources and work on a shared plan of care. In doing so, the UCARMHSS clinician may discuss relevant aspects of your engagement with UCARMHSS. This would only be with your consent to share this information unless there is deemed to be particular risk in not sharing. 

The UCARMHSS clinician will not discuss your care beyond other relevant services unless risk levels indicate a need to. We will ensure that information is passed to the most appropriate people/agency, who can reduce this risk. In some circumstances this may be a family member. We will always try to share information with your prior knowledge and consent, except in emergency situations.

Please see the UCARMHSS privacy notice for details on how we will handle your data. CPFT UCARMHSS Privacy Notice FINAL Sept 2025.pdf [pdf] 195KB