Mental health services are failing to adequately support students when they leave home and move to university, allowing them to fall through the gaps at a time of increased vulnerability and stressful new pressures, according to research.

With suicide rates among students on the rise and a sharp increase in demand for mental health support – as much as three-fold in some institutions – universities have acknowledged in a report that current services are letting students down.

The Universities UK report, Minding Our Future, states that the number of students dropping out with mental health problems has more than trebled in recent years and several universities in the UK have seen a number of student suicides over a short period of time.

It calls for urgent action involving a partnership of national and local government, schools, colleges, the NHS and universities, to work together to “join up” mental health care services for students to ensure that a generation of young people are not failed.

UUK is the representative body for UK universities. Its report says one of the key challenges is the transition from services students have depended on at home to a new city, and the transfer of records from one service to another. It also calls for improved links between local NHS services and the support that universities provide.

Student accounts included in the report illustrate the difficulties they face. “After I was discharged I had no mental health or GP support while I was back during the holidays,” said one undergraduate. “Since I was home for four weeks at Christmas and another four at Easter, this was a problem.”

“There always seems to be a lag in transferring records between GPs and my records have been misplaced more than once,” said another.

“Quick access to mental health services is a problem,” said another student. “Referrals take a long time; talking therapies take much, much longer. In the interim, students are missing classes, falling behind with coursework and needing help. The impact on grades can be huge.”

Almost half of all school leavers now go on to university, reflecting the diversity of the wider population, and with 75% of all mental illness developing by the age of 24, the report says university can be a time of acute vulnerability as students grapple with the new challenges of independent learning and living.

Student suicides have steadily increased from 108 in 2001 to 134 in 2015, with a 15-year low in 2007 of 75. There are currently 2.3 million students studying in UK universities.

Professor Steve West, the vice-chancellor of University of the West of England Bristol and chair of UUK’s mental health in higher education advisory group, said: “The system of mental health care for students must be improved. Health services aren’t properly designed to help students as they move from home to university. This is too important to ignore and we must not fail a generation by not doing what is required.

“I call on national and local government, schools, colleges, the health service, voluntary organisations and universities to work together. This will give us the best chance of supporting students through the significant transitions they face during their early lives.”

Paul Jenkins, the chief executive of the Tavistock and Portman NHS trust, added: “We need to improve the links between local NHS services and the support that universities provide. It requires a partnership approach at the local level to assess needs and to design and deliver services for students.

“It is essential that these young people are provided with the right support at each step of the pathway.”