When Support Means More Than Money: The SBS Welfare Service

There is a version of support that is easy to see and straightforward to measure. A bursary awarded. A bill paid. A financial crisis navigated. The Swiss Benevolent Society has been providing that kind of practical support to Swiss nationals in the UK since 1703, and it remains central to what we do.

But there is another kind of support that is harder to quantify and just as necessary — the kind that has nothing to do with money and everything to do with how someone is coping.

Exam season brings this into focus every year.

The Pressure Behind the Preparation

For Swiss students studying in the UK — and for the families supporting them from a distance or from the next room — the exam period is one of the most demanding stretches of the academic year. This is true whether a young person is sitting 11+ assessments, CE 13+ entrance exams, GCSEs, A Levels, the International Baccalaureate, or university finals. The systems differ. The stakes feel similarly high in every one of them.

What does not always differ is the experience of sitting with that pressure largely alone.

Students who have grown up between two countries, or who have arrived in the UK to study independently, carry an additional layer of complexity that their peers may not share. The support networks that would naturally cushion a difficult period — extended family, long-standing friendships, the reassurance of familiar surroundings — are often partially or wholly absent. And parents supporting children through UK exams from Switzerland, or navigating a system they did not grow up in themselves, can find the whole experience disorienting in ways that are difficult to articulate.

This is where the SBS Welfare Officer comes in.

A Listening Ear, Not a Checklist

Lily Saunders, the SBS Welfare Officer, offers something that sits alongside our financial support rather than replacing it: a genuinely human point of contact for Swiss nationals in the UK who are finding things difficult.

We do not offer academic tutoring nor guidance on exam systems or curriculum advice — we leave those at the hands of schools and educational professionals. 

The SBS support is available to students themselves and to parents. Because exam season is not only hard on the person sitting the papers, it can also be difficult for supporting parents, trying to help.

Broader Than One Exam, One Institution, One Age Group

One of the things this year’s exam season has reminded us of is how varied the experience of exams is across the UK. Scottish students begin their national exams earlier than their counterparts in England and Wales. Entry examinations for independent schools follow their own calendar entirely. University assessment periods overlap with school exam seasons in ways that mean May and June bring pressure to an exceptionally wide range of Swiss families simultaneously.

Our welfare support is available across all of it — not only to university students, not only to those in England, and not only to those facing the highest-stakes qualifications. If a child is finding the 11+ process stressful, if a teenager is struggling with the pressure of GCSE revision, if a student sitting A Levels is finding the isolation of exam leave harder than expected — Lily is available.

The only requirement is that you are part of the Swiss community in the UK and that you feel you could use someone to talk to.

How to Get in Touch

If you or your child would benefit from a conversation with our Welfare Officer Lily during the exam period — or at any other point in the year — please reach out through the SBS website or send an email to welfareoffice@swissbenevolent.org.uk .The support is confidential, unhurried, and without obligation.

Financial difficulty is not a prerequisite. You do not need to be in crisis. You simply need to feel that a conversation would help.

That is reason enough.

About the Swiss Benevolent Society

The Swiss Benevolent Society exists to support Swiss nationals in the UK through times of change, challenge, and transition. Our work is grounded in dignity, compassion, and the belief in self-reliance — offering practical help while empowering individuals and families to regain stability and confidence. If you or someone you know may need support, you can learn more about how we help and how to get in touch through our Welfare Office. If you share our values and would like to be part of our community, we welcome you to become a member and stay connected with our work. And if you are able, donations — of any size — help us continue providing vital assistance; every contribution goes directly back into our welfare programmes.

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