The Student Wellbeing SMS survey, developed in consultation with students, is an annual survey designed to better understand the needs and experiences of our diverse student community.
If you've provided an Australian mobile number to the University via Sydney Student, you will receive the survey via short message service (SMS) between Monday 20 and Thursday 23 October 2025.
How will I receive the survey?
Between Monday 20 and Thursday 23 October, you'll receive two SMS messages. The first SMS will be from the University, confirming you will be sent the survey within 30 minutes. The second SMS will be the survey, sent by the Westmead Applied Research Centre (WARC), from one of the following numbers:
- (+61) 488 849 883
- (+61) 488 856 465
- (+61) 488 856 239
What will the survey ask of me?
The Student Wellbeing SMS survey aims to understand levels of wellbeing within our student community, and will ask you the following:
Tell us how you feel about university life by replying with a number from 0-10 (0=not at all positive, 10=extremely positive)
All responses to the survey are confidential and optional.
How we'll use your feedback
Past responses through the Student Wellbeing SMS survey have helped inform improvements to student support, including reduced wait times for counsellors and a wayfinding service for general wellbeing-related enquiries with same-day service.
Past survey responses have also provided valuable insight to cohorts of students who may be struggling more than others. As a result of these insights, the Student Wellbeing team have worked closely with faculties and schools to identify opportunities to improve local support.
Where can I access support?
Our student wellbeing services are free and confidential for all students and are available 24/7.
If you are experiencing wellbeing concerns and would like to connect with somebody, the first step is to complete our wellbeing registration form. Visit our student life, wellbeing and support page for a comprehensive list of services and resources to support your personal wellbeing.
Our commitment to confidentiality
All responses to the survey are confidential. Neither WARC nor the University can identify individuals through responses, except in cases of emergency.
WARC and the University will receive information about the average levels of wellbeing reported by different student cohorts (e.g. faculty or school, year of enrolment, type of enrolment), but will not be able to identify individuals.
To help the University develop informed approaches to support the wellbeing of its students, the SMS Wellbeing Check pilot will be delivered by the Westmead Applied Research Centre (WARC) on behalf of the University of Sydney using the TextCare SMS messaging platform.
We have provided WARC with your mobile phone number. WARC will use your phone number for the purpose of sending a Wellbeing Check message to you. WARC will securely destroy your personal information at the completion of the pilot.
Responses will be used to compile aggregated reporting about the average levels of wellbeing reported by different student cohorts, and to support research. Responses will remain confidential, and neither WARC nor the University will access and use identified individual responses, except in cases of emergency. Please note that the SMS Wellbeing Check is not intended as a means to request immediate support. If you need immediate support, please use the wide range of wellbeing resources on the University’s Wellbeing Services page.
We will use aggregated responses to the Wellbeing Check to identify cohorts of students who might be struggling more than others, and who may need greater support from the University.
For more information about how we will handle your personal information, please refer to our student privacy webpage.
To learn more about the TextCare platform, please visit https://textcare.com.au/my/privacy.
You can also access information about WARC on our Westmead Applied Research Centre webpage.