Navigating Structural Change: Centralised, Decentralised, and Hybrid Models of Pastoral Support
Tuesday, April 14, 2026 10:00 AM - 10:45 AM
ADVISING IN A TIME OF CHANGE
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Session Outline
This panel examines competing organisational models for delivering pastoral support in higher education. As student mental health needs intensify (Lewis and Stiebahl, 2025) and expectations for personalised care grow, institutions face critical decisions about where pastoral support should sit: within centralised student services or embedded within academic departments and faculties. The current landscape of pastoral provision is varied, with institutions such as the University of Exeter embedding discipline-based pastoral mentors into every department (King and Johnson, 2024) and others such as the University of East London preferring a centrally guided whole university approach (Morgan, 2024).
The objectives of this interactive workshop are to:
-Understand the competing organisational models for delivering pastoral support in higher education
- Identify inequity implications of different pastoral support models
- Assess how different models can better adapt to different needs of students
Facilitators in this interactive workshop will present contrasting models from their institution, exploring key tensions: can centralised services provide the disciplinary understanding and accessibility that departmental staff offer? Do embedded models risk overburdening staff or creating inequitable experiences across faculties? The discussion will address resource allocation, staff training and boundaries, referral pathways, and the balance between pastoral and academic roles.
The facilitators will be student advisers from LSE, which operates a hybrid pastoral support model where some departments maintain dedicated student support roles while others rely on centralised services. Facilitators will share perspectives from both sides of this structure, examining the practical realities, tensions, and trade-offs they experience in their roles. Drawing on frontline experience, they will discuss how the hybrid model affects accessibility, continuity of care, disciplinary expertise, and workload distribution—as well as how students navigate support across different departments. The session will conclude with facilitated audience discussion exploring the viability of hybrid approaches and identifying sustainable frameworks for pastoral care in resource-constrained environments.
Learning Outcomes
- Shared transferable insights between institutions with regards to models of pastoral support
-Ideas to address the inequity implications of different pastoral support models
Bibliography
Lewis, J. and Stiebahl, S. (2025). Student Mental Health in England: Statistics, policy, and Guidance. commonslibrary.parliament.uk, [online] 8593(1). Available at: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8593/.
Morgan, M. (2024). ‘Embedding wellness into a whole university approach to academic mentoring at the University of East London’ in How Universities are thinking about academic support. Wonkhe.com, [online]. Available at: How universities are thinking about academic support | Wonkhe.
Competencies
This session addresses the following competencies of the UKAT Professional Framework for Advising and Tutoring
C3 - Academic advising and tutoring approaches and strategies
C5 - How equitable and inclusive environments are created and maintained
R4 - Plan and conduct successful advising and tutoring interactions