That the Parliament notes the research published by NUS Scotland on 28 October 2020 on student mental health and wellbeing; understands that this included a student survey of over 3,000 college and university students; recognises the importance of student support services provided by universities, such as the University of Edinburgh’s The Advice Place, which offers independent and confidential advice across all aspects of university life, including finance and funding, accommodation and tenancy and health and wellbeing; is concerned that the findings record that almost half of students surveyed cited lack of money or financial pressures as negatively impacting on their mental health; expresses further concern that access to support services both in universities and the NHS was reported as having an impact on students’ mental health; acknowledges that, of those students surveyed who used an institutional or external support service, more than half said that they had to wait to access the support they needed, and that institutions that took part in the research reported the practice of backfilling NHS services because of under-capacity in the health service; notes the report’s recommendations, including that consideration should be given to further improvements that could be made to student cost-of-living support, especially in the context of COVID-19, that steps should be taken to improve waiting times for NHS mental health services and that action is needed to reduce the difficulties students experience in accessing them, and urges the Scottish Government to give serious consideration to these recommendations and engage in discussions with stakeholders such as the NUS regarding how access to mental health and financial support services for students can be improved.