Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to help schools, colleges and universities to support students with the mental health effects of the covid-19 outbreak.

We know that the COVID-19 outbreak and associated measures and restrictions, such as social distancing and school closures, will be impacting on the mental wellbeing of many people, including children and young people. The government has made student wellbeing and mental health a central part of our response to the COVID-19 outbreak, and the support we have already put in place for schools, colleges and universities will be critical during this time.

We worked closely with the Department of Health and Social (DHSC) on their Wellbeing and Mental Health Support Plan for COVID-19, backed by £50 million. The plan sets out the support available for individuals in the context of a second wave, and the winter months, including support for children and young people. As part of taking forward this work, the Department for Education will be convening a task force, alongside DHSC, to look at the effects on children, young people and staff in the education system. We will confirm the next steps as soon as possible.

We have ensured that schools have the flexibility to offer a place in school, as a vulnerable child, to any pupils for whom being in school will help them manage their mental health, or to access support more easily. Decisions will be informed by the school’s experience of how pupils have been affected so far.

Schools will also continue to offer pastoral support to pupils working remotely at home, informed and supported by training and expert advice that we have made available, including through the £8 million Wellbeing for Education Return scheme. Wellbeing for Education Return, a Department for Education led initiative alongside DHSC, Health Education England, Public Health England and key voluntary sector organisations, has trained local experts to provide additional advice and resources for schools and further education (FE) providers to help support pupil and student, parent and carer, and staff wellbeing, resilience, and recovery in light of the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown. In recognition of the significant pressures on school and FE provider staff, local areas are providing training and support in a variety of ways, including via live and recorded online interactive sessions, webinars, podcasts, drop-ins and peer networks or coaching groups. Over 85% of local authority areas in England have reported they are delivering additional training and support into local schools and FE providers because of the Wellbeing for Education Return funding. Nationally, our information indicates that more than 15,000 education settings are being offered this additional training and support. The information and support made available through Wellbeing for Education Return is relevant to remote provision as well as to those attending school. Schools should make sure that parents and pupils know who to contact if they have new concerns about mental health and wellbeing, and that they understand what pastoral support is available.

This is backed up by guidance that the department has issued for schools, which includes information and sources of further advice on supporting mental health and wellbeing. This guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak .

We have also put in place a £1 billion COVID “catch-up” package, with £650 million shared across early years, schools and 16-19 providers over the 2020/21 academic year to support education settings to put the right catch-up and pastoral support in place. The Education Endowment Foundation have published a COVID-19 support guide to support schools to direct this funding, which includes further information about interventions to support pupils’ mental health and wellbeing.

For FE we are also committed to providing and signposting wellbeing guidance and support, and ensuring that specialist mental health support is available for all students and staff in FE who need it. The FE operational guidance includes a specific section on supporting the mental health of staff and students in addition to signposting providers to additional resources, such as webinars and online platforms. This is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/954814/Further_education_guidance_for_restricting_attendance_during_the_national_lockdown.pdf.

The College Collaboration Fund is a £5.4 million grant funding programme open to all statutory FE colleges, to be delivered in the 2020/21 financial year. We particularly welcomed applications that address one of 5 specific quality improvement needs. 5 of the funded projects are designed to provide remote/online mental health and wellbeing support to students and/or staff.

It is for higher education providers, as autonomous bodies, to identify and address the needs of their student body and decide what welfare support services to put in place. We expect providers to continue to support their students, which has included making services accessible from a distance. We encourage students to stay in touch with their provider’s student support and welfare teams, as these services are likely to continue to be an important source of support. My hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Universities, wrote to Vice Chancellors in October 2020 outlining that student welfare should remain a priority, and has convened a working group of representatives from the higher education and health sectors to specifically address the current and pressing issues that students are facing during the COVID-19 outbreak.

We have worked closely with the Office for Students (OfS), providing up to £3 million to fund the mental health platform Student Space in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, and have asked the OfS to allocate an additional £15 million towards student mental health, through proposed reforms to teaching grant funding.

Student Space is a mental health and wellbeing platform designed to bridge any gaps in support for students arising from this unprecedented situation and works alongside existing services. Ensuring students have access to quality mental health support is a top priority, which is why we asked the OfS to look at extending the platform. I am delighted they have been able to extend the platform to support students for the whole 2020/21 academic year.

For students that need specialist support, the government continues to invest in and prioritise mental health for all, with additional investment of £2.3 billion a year by the 2023/24 financial year through the NHS Long Term Plan. The NHS will also receive approximately an additional £500 million this year, to address waiting times for mental health services, give more people the mental health support that they need, and invest in the NHS workforce. In the long term, we remain committed to our joint green paper delivery programme with the DHSC and NHS England, including introducing new mental health support teams for all schools and colleges, providing training for senior mental health leads in schools and colleges, and testing approaches to faster access to NHS specialist support.