Adam Waddingham
Head of Student Support and Wellbeing, University College London
Adam Waddingham is Head of Student Support and Wellbeing at UCL, where he leads a large, multi-functional team supporting over 50,000 students. His work spans safeguarding, casework, wellbeing, and service transformation, and he’s particularly focused on building systems that are proactive, inclusive, and genuinely useful to students and staff.
Adam has worked across a number of UK universities, including Warwick, Manchester, Cambridge and Liverpool Hope, and brings a mix of strategic thinking, operational delivery, and an eye for how policy lands in practice. At UCL, he’s introduced new ways of working around trauma-informed safeguarding, helped relaunch the University's Report + Support function, and played a key role in the support for the University Mental Health Charter Award.
He’s a regular contributor to sector conversations — whether through writing for WonkHE or speaking at events like THE Campus Live — and enjoys sharing the practical realities (and messiness) of leading change in complex organisations. Outside of work, Adam is a volunteer with Samaritans and has previously chaired a national relationships and sex education charity. He’s particularly interested in how we can design services that work well for both students and the people delivering them.
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