Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of (a) primary and (b) secondary schools offer professional mental health support for pupils.

The mental health of children is a priority for this government and schools play a vital role in this, particularly by providing calm, safe and supportive learning environments that promote good mental wellbeing and help pupils who need it to access early targeted support.

Schools are best placed to decide what support to provide to respond to the social, emotional and mental health needs of their pupils. This can include the provision of school-based mental health professionals such as counsellors and working with external providers and, where necessary, NHS specialist services.

The requested information on schools offering professional mental health support is not collected centrally. The department collects information on staff working in state funded schools via the annual School Workforce Census, but does not directly identify mental health professionals. The results are published in the annual ‘School Workforce in England’ national statistics release, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.

To expand access to early mental health support in schools and colleges, the department is working with NHS England to increase the number of Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) working with schools and colleges. These teams include trained mental health professionals who can offer support to children experiencing common mental health problems and liaise with external specialist services to help pupils get the right support. As of April 2023, MHSTs covered 35% of pupils in schools and students in further education in England. We are expanding coverage to an estimated 44% of pupils/students by the end of this financial year and at least 50% by April 2025.