Students with mental health problems are being forced to wait up to 12 weeks for help from their university, prompting fears that some may take their own lives during the delay.

Undergraduates at the Royal College of Music in London had to wait the longest to start counselling last year, with the worst case being 84 days, figures collected by British universities show.

Sir Norman Lamb, the ex-health minister who obtained the data, said such long delays for care for conditions such as anxiety and depression could prove seriously damaging to undergraduates.

“Twelve-week delays to start counselling are scandalous, particularly when we know that so many students are taking their own lives,” he said. “That’s longer than a university term.

“It’s extraordinary that some universities are subjecting students to such long waits and failing their student populations so badly.”

“Universities with these long waiting times need to remember that students suffering from mental health conditions very often need help as a matter of real urgency. The risk is that their mental welfare will decline even further while they wait and wait for care and support,” he added.

Despite the growing demand for care, one in four universities have cut or frozen their budgets for student mental health, Lamb also found, although not all universities supplied full data.

The University of Plymouth had the second-longest waiting times last year, with the worst case 66 days – though it stressed that the students involved had been offered earlier appointments.

At Edinburgh Napier university, students waited up to 57 days for counselling and 112 days to start cognitive behavioural therapy, the research shows.

Other institutions with notably long delays in the worst cases included the Royal College of Art in London (56 days), Bournemouth University (44 days in the term until December 2018) and the University of Salford (42 days).

The findings come as hundreds of thousands of young people across the UK prepare to start a degree course at university, with most living away from home for the first time.

Lamb’s results, based on responses received to freedom of information requests, also found that students at some universities are facing average waits of up to 52 days in their quest to get psychological support.

That average delay – of seven-and-a-half weeks – was seen at the University of Bristol. Its mental health support for undergraduates has come under close scrutiny as a result of the suicide or suspected suicide of 12 students there in the last three years.

Other institutions with long average delays include Northumbria (42 days) and Edinburgh Napier, where students typically waited 30.7 days last year to access counselling and CBT.

In contrast, those at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London were seen in just 1.2 days – the shortest wait among the 110 universities Lamb sought details from.

Universities have been heavily criticised for the mental health provision they offer undergraduates, as the number of them seeking help has soared in recent years. Students’ struggles can lead to them dropping out, doing poorly academically or killing themselves. An estimated 95 students in higher education took their own lives in the 12 months to July 2017 in England and Wales.

Reported student mental ill-health has increased fivefold since 2010. Research has found that one in five (22%) students has been diagnosed with a mental ailment and that even more (34%) have struggled with a psychological issue with which they felt they needed professional help.

In addition, 45% use drink or drugs to help them cope with problems, 43% worry often or all the time and 9% think about self-harming often or all the time.

Responding to Lamb’s findings, Tom Madders, campaigns director at the charity YoungMinds, said: “It is very worrying that there is considerable variation in the level of mental health support offered at universities around the country. Counselling for students should not be a postcode lottery.

“Many young people start university expecting to have the time of their lives. But for some it can be a stressful experience: moving away from home, financial difficulties, problems with your course, making new friends and changes to your support network can all pile on the pressure.”

Lamb also found progress by some universities. Many have increased the number of counsellors they employ or cut waiting times, for example.

John de Pury, assistant director of policy at Universities UK, which represents the vast majority of universities, said it wanted institutions to do more to help students as soon as problems first emerge.

“Mental health matters to universities but there is no simple answer to this challenge nor can they address it alone,” he said.

“Universities provide a range of mental health services – not just counselling – to support students. We are encouraging all higher education providers not just to do more of what they have been doing but to review existing support and to design and resource appropriate services based on need. They should widen their approach to include prevention and early intervention,” he said.

Some universities are trialling an opt-in scheme, whereby students allow the authorities to tell their parents if they develop problems, to help ensure their families know and can help to support them.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.