Dogs join Middlesex University staff to help students with exam stress and homesickness

The dogs wear ID badges to ensure they are seen as key part of team

Dogs have joined Middlesex University to help students with exam-related stress and homesickness.

Five Labradors have been trained as “canine teaching assistants” to reduce anxiety and prevent students from dropping out of university.

The dogs have even been given their own ID badges to ensure they are seen as a fundamental part of the teaching and wellbeing team at the university.

Fiona Suthers, head of clinical skills at the university, said: “It’s hard to describe the impact of just having a dog lying down in the corner of a class. You can literally feel stress levels reducing.

"It's amazing and we're very keen to continue and expand what we're doing.”

It comes after the University of East Anglia recently offered students the chance to take a dog for a walk in a bid to tackle stress during the exam season.

And last month, Sir Anthony Seldon, University of Buckingham’s vice-chancellor, said every school should have a dog or another pet to reduce stress in the classroom.

Education secretary Damian Hinds added that more schools seem to have "wellbeing dogs" and "the pets can really help".