Why schools and colleges are key to preventing mental health problems
We offer practical tips to help support good mental health and explore the need for better early intervention in education settings.
One in five young people in the UK has a probable mental health disorder.1 That’s around six students in every classroom.
When young people go unsupported, potential mental health problems can become entrenched, impacting their quality of life and experience of education.
Getting young people the right support at the right time is vital. Early intervention and preventative support can prevent mental health issues escalating and equip young people with tools to manage their own wellbeing.
Find out about our early support service for schools and colleges.
Schools’ and colleges’ role in supporting young people
Create a mentally healthy environment
As the place young people spend most of their time, education settings can help support student wellbeing by creating an environment that nurtures good mental health.
This universal approach emphasises raising awareness, destigmatising mental health difficulties and encouraging young people to form supportive relationships.
By talking about mental health, education staff can help reduce anxieties and break down taboos around discussing difficult emotions. This in turn helps young people to be more aware of their own emotional state and feel able to reach out to others if they’re struggling.
This could be coupled with whole-staff mental health training. By promoting greater understanding of mental health and wellbeing amongst colleagues, you can empower them to better support themselves and their students.
However, some students may need additional support – and education settings are well placed to help them access it.
Look out for signs a student needs support
As school or college staff, you’ll become familiar with your students’ behaviour. You’ll pick up when something’s going well for them, how they act when frustrated - and you may notice the subtle changes which may suggest they need extra help. To be able to signpost young people to appropriate support, you need to know what to look out for. It’s not always clear when a young person might need help, but these signs may indicate an emerging mental health need:
low mood
low energy
anger or irritability
headaches or stomach aches
changes in appetite
excessive worrying
reduced attendance
disengagement from learning
not doing the things that usually bring joy like hobbies, interests or extra-curricular activities
withdrawing from social activities or time with friends.
Students showing one or more of these behaviours could be referred to any additional support available in your setting, or to specialists through NHS Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services.
It is important that colleagues understand referral routes and thresholds for support in the local area so you can refer students to the right place. Be prepared to support young people through the referral process, as accessing care can be stressful and challenging.
Alongside referring young people to targeted support, you can also use simple, practical strategies in the classroom. We’ve compiled six methods you can use to support young people with anxiety and low mood.
Why young people might need additional support
The lasting impact of the Covid-19 lockdowns, increasing poverty, climate anxiety and the rapid evolution of the digital world are just a few of the issues reshaping young lives.
And these have had a clear impact, with the pandemic making young people more likely to experience worsening mental wellbeing, as well as depression and social, emotional and behavioural difficulties.2
This has fuelled a rising demand for mental health support, with NHS requests for support services having doubled since 2018.3
This shows young people need help with their mental health. And at the early stages, delivering this support may fall to education staff who don’t always have the appropriate training and shouldn’t be expected to act as mental health professionals.
So in 2020 we developed the Schools and Colleges Early Support Service. Our goal was to make expert-led mental wellbeing support accessible for as many young people as possible, whilst ensuring trusted adults like education staff, parents and carers knew how best to help.
Developing a clinical support service
We initially provided online mental health support for young people aged 11 to 18 in group and one-to-one sessions. They could access this support through referrals from their school or college.
These sessions were informed by evidence-based CBT principles, equipping young people with guided self-help strategies to manage their own wellbeing now and into the future.
We encouraged young people to explore what they wanted help with and agree personalised goals with their practitioner. This approach empowered them to support their own wellbeing long-term and gave them tools to last a lifetime.
Online delivery meant we could rapidly mobilise to reach young people across the UK and helped us to reach underserved communities.
This support remains as the core of the service today, but we’ve continued to grow and develop based on feedback from the students, staff, parents and carers we’ve supported.
Expanded age range and single session option
We have widened our age range to 11-25, allowing us to support as many young people as possible.
Young people can also choose between the original offer of six to eight one-to-one sessions, or one-off consultations for those who want to focus on a specific issue.
Independent referrals for those aged 16-25
Those aged 16–25 can now self-refer to the service to reflect feedback that this age group wanted more autonomy over seeking and accessing mental wellbeing support.
Those aged 11-15 are still referred by staff to ensure they’re supported through the process.
Additional resources for young people
Young people can also now access a library of videos about dealing with common wellbeing challenges like anxiety, low mood and anger.
I would 1000% recommend the service and I’m so grateful to be able to offer something really worthwhile to students… Giving a young person designated time to really think about themselves is empowering. For some students, it’s been really beneficial having a person that’s just for them that they can connect with.
- Member of school staff.
Helping education staff support themselves and their students
For education staff, we now offer on-demand training and development videos sharing practical strategies to support themselves and their students.
We also offer flexible, individual online support consultations which staff can use to discuss their own wellbeing or seek advice around supporting young people’s wellbeing.
Connecting with parents and carers
Parents and carers can now access live support webinars to feel more connected to expert guidance and ask any questions they may have.
To help them feel supported and connected throughout their child's care, parents and carers of students aged 11-15 can join the first and last sessions and access a one-off online support consultation.
Nine in ten trusted adults say the service has given them helpful support, knowledge and skills.
Anna Freud’s Schools and Colleges Early Support service has been monumental - I would go as far as to say life-changing - in terms of the impact it's made on the ground for our students and staff, but also parents and carers.
- Rahi Popat, pastoral support officer.
Wellbeing support for your students
Registration for the Schools and Colleges Early Support Service is now open for 2025-2026. Complete our expression of interest form to see how we can work together to support your students.