University of Wales Trinity Saint David joins award-winning student safety and wellbeing initiative

The University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) was today announced as the latest university to become a Founder Member of ProtectED — the award-winning national initiative raising standards in student safety, security and wellbeing in the higher education sector.

UWTSD becomes the first university in Wales to become a ProtectED Founder Member institution, and the seventh across the UK. ProtectED Founder Member is a title conferred on the first twelve 'early adopter' universities joining ProtectED. Founder Member institutions will help steer the development and roll-out of ProtectED over the coming years.

UWTSD’s Royal Charter is the oldest of any university in Wales and England^[1], after the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and the university will celebrate the bicentenary of its foundation in 2022. UWTSD is the first university in Wales to join ProtectED and brings the student experience of over 12,000 learners^[2] across its campuses within the scope of the ProtectED Code of Practice.

ProtectED recognises that universities have a broad role to play in supporting the safety, security and wellbeing of their students — not only while they're on campus, but throughout their student experience. ProtectED Member institutions work towards independent assessment and accreditation against the ProtectED Code of Practice. This requires universities to have in place appropriate policies, procedures and practices that meet current best practice recommendations across a number of areas: core institutional security; student wellbeing and mental health; international students; student harassment and sexual assault; and the student night out. In this way, ProtectED fosters a holistic approach to safeguarding the student experience.

ProtectED Membership thereby allows prospective students and their parents to easily identify those universities taking real action to deliver best practice in ensuring their students' safety, security and wellbeing.

As a University renowned for the quality of its student support, ProtectED membership is a good fit for UWTSD. The University scores highly in university rankings for student satisfaction which makes it an ideal addition to the ProtectED Founder Member cohort.

Professor Medwin Hughes, DL, University of Wales Trinity Saint David Vice-Chancellor, said: "The safety, security and wellbeing of our students is paramount. We aim to provide a safe and inclusive environment in which our students can thrive — both in their professional and personal lives.  I’m delighted that the University has become a Founding Member of ProtectED and has been recognised by this ‘gold standard’ accreditation scheme”.

Professor Caroline Davey, Director of ProtectED CIC, said: "We are proud to welcome the University of Wales Trinity Saint David as our first Welsh ProtectED Founder Member institution. I know that UWTSD strives to be at the cutting edge of change. As we begin recovery from a global pandemic that has raised serious challenges for the entire higher education sector, we welcome continued commitment to ProtectED from forward-thinking universities as demonstrated by this new membership of UWTSD. With their support, ProtectED can help ensure the safety, security and wellbeing of students at member institutions across the UK."

University of Wales Trinity Saint David joins a pioneering cohort of ProtectED Founder Member institutions that are working towards accreditation against the ProtectED Code of Practice. This includes University College London, Brunel University London, Teesside University, University of Central Lancashire, Coventry University and the University of Salford. These universities are taking real action to meet best practice standards around student safety, security and wellbeing, to achieve the ProtectED Accredited Institution award.

University of Wales Trinity Saint David will be formally welcomed into ProtectED at an Evening Reception at the House of Lords early next year hosted by Baroness Ruth Henig, ProtectED patron and Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords.

Baroness Henig said: “The ProtectED Code of Practice offers, for the first time, a comprehensive student safety, security and wellbeing standard for universities to aspire to, and a practical, robust method of assessing and raising standards across the sector.”

Note to Editor

^[1] https://www.uwtsd.ac.uk/about/vc-welcome/

^[2] https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/whos-in-he

ProtectED CIC is a not-for-profit community interest company and membership organisation. ProtectED was conceptualised, researched and developed through a partnership comprising K7 Compliance and the Design Against Crime Solution Centre and Security Department at the University of Salford.

For more information on this story or to discuss ProtectED, please contact:

Lisa Ravenscroft, Communications Manager

m: +44 (0)7889 933034   e: l.ravenscroft@Protect-ED.org

For more information on ProtectED visit www.protect-ed.org