Lessons learned from lockdown: how the COVID-19 pandemic revealed intersecting inequalities of mental health, well-being, and learning for first-year UK university students

Abstract Purpose Many COVID-19 studies treat the student population as homogenous, concealing the experiences of vulnerable groups. This study conceptualised vulnerability during the pandemic as an intersection of being a first-year student with a history of poor mental health and being from a low-income background. The aim of this study was to understand how these students' profiles shape their university and educational experience over 1 year of the pandemic. Methods Longitudinal, semi-structured interviews with 20 first-year students from UK universities were conducted during the 2020–2021 academic year. The interview data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Results Themes were (i) (Not) managing mental health impacts, where participants expressed a sense of barely surviving; (ii) little choice, more risk, and more isolation, where low-income students reported struggling to balance the risk of illness with employment; and (iii) Past mental health experiences: Feeling more isolated and forgotten, where previous experiences of poor mental health left students vulnerable to a spiralling state of poor mental well-being. Discussion This study identified how vulnerabilities intersect and interact with challenging circumstances to reveal how those inequalities were experienced by students. Recommendations were made to support students by improving visibility and access to mental health services.