This presentation reports back on the findings of a Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) curriculum enhancement project (project designed to enhance student experiences at university) which illuminates what education students found difficult and how they overcame their challenges. This research was undertaken in conjunction with students empowering and proving them with a voice as well as well-paid employment.

There is an abundance of research on the wellbeing of student populations and practising teachers (Education Support Partnership, 2021, 2018; Eisenberg et al., 2009; Macaskill, 2013; Pereira et al., 2019; Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2011, 2013; White, 2020). These studies indicate that the number of all students experiencing poor wellbeing as the result of a mental health issue has increased since 1993 (Universities UK, 2018).

However, there has been a significant increase in the number of women (16-24 years old) reporting a common mental health issue (Universities UK, 2018). This is of note, because on most PGCE/PGDE courses, and in fact in primary teacher training and education studies programmes overall the cohorts are predominately female, 82.5% (DfE, 2021), which is then represented in the workforce. In addition, from the decade 2007/2008 to 2016/2017 there has also been an 84% increase in the numbers of postgraduate students disclosing a mental health condition.

This project was designed to help support the students in the School of Education by capturing the lived experiences of the current students. Those who participated shared their stories of resilience, grit and digging deep and these were collated by theme and published in a book which is now used for induction to support the next cohort of students. By sharing and providing examples of what helped it is hoped that this will equip the students with positive strategies for ‘when the going gets tough’. In this way, instead of simply telling students to ‘be more resilient’ or encouraging them to ‘just keep going’ we can illuminate and share real-life, tangible examples of what students who have come before did. The School Of Education Little Book of Hope: A Collection of Resilience, Grit and Digging Deep Tales of Life is now available in the reception and break out areas of the building, as well as being used during induction for new students at Liverpool John Moores and Manchester Metropolitan Universities.

We will share these messages of student hope with the international audience at the conference by presenting them each with a book and encouraging them to make their own books with their students, or even to just use our book.

We will also illuminate:
1. What types of experiences do students report as being challenging?
2. What strategies do they report using to overcome/help with these challenges?
3. Are there any collective recommendations we can make for curriculum creators in light of these findings?

Keywords: Education students, resilience, wellbeing, peer-to-peer support.