Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to provide additional support to schools to help students with their mental health.

The government will provide access to NHS-funded mental health support teams (MHSTs) in every school by 2029, with around six in ten pupils expected to have access by April 2026. Data for 2024/25 is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision.

MHSTs supplement existing pastoral provision, and schools retain the freedom to determine support based on pupil need, making best use of their funding.

Alongside providing direct support to pupils, MHSTs can also work with the mental health lead in each school to introduce or develop a whole-school approach to mental health.

The department also encourages whole-school approaches to promoting children and young people's mental health and wellbeing, which includes schools equipping teachers with the skills and knowledge to recognise and respond appropriately to pupil’s mental health needs. The department’s guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/promoting-children-and-young-peoples-emotional-health-and-wellbeing.

To support education staff, the department provides a resource hub for mental health leads, and a targeted support guide and hub to help choose evidence-based targeted support for pupils.