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Mental health support teams: Schools lament ‘glacial progress’

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Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) are on track to reach half of all children and young people by next year – eight years after the initiative was first proposed.
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Figures published this week by the Department for Education (DfE, 2024) show that around 4.2 million students are now covered by support from MHSTs – about 44%.

This is up from 35% coverage last year and the initiative is forecast to reach 54% coverage in March 2025.

However, while the initiative is well-supported there has long been frustration at the long timescales and slow roll-out.

Responding to the new figures this week, Margaret Mulholland, SEND and inclusion specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “It’s just not acceptable that in 2025, eight years after the initiative was first proposed, half of all pupils will still be without access to MHSTs”

MHSTs support the mental health needs of children and young people in primary, secondary and further education (ages 5 to 18), providing early intervention on issues such as mild to moderate anxiety. Delivery is led by the NHS with support from the DfE.

The latest figures show that 498 MHSTs are now operational with an additional 109 due to be online by March 2025. Each MHST covers an average of 8,400 learners in 17 schools or colleges and are also intended to support education settings in promoting good mental health and wellbeing.

Ms Mulholland also expressed her frustration that access to MHSTs continues to vary “widely”. The DfE’s figures show that regional MHST coverage is highest in London (50% of pupils), the North West (49%), and the South West (48%), while the areas with the least coverage are the Midlands (37%), South East (39%), and East of England (41%).

Ms Mulholland said: “Access varies widely across the country, meaning the level of support available is still something of a postcode lottery, while waiting times for children and young people’s mental health services remain worryingly long.

“There needs to be significant investment in tackling the mental health crisis among children and young people, including the roll-out of MHSTs to all schools and colleges as soon as possible. This glacial progress, when set against the increasing demand for support and growing unmet needs, should be no cause for celebration.”

It comes as the latest NHS research published in November estimates that more than 1 in 5 children and young people in England aged 8 to 16 had a probable mental health disorder in 2023 (Newlove-Delgado et al, 2023).

The MHST initiative was first floated in 2017 and was announced in July 2018 as part of the government’s mental health Green Paper. The plans also included funded training for senior mental health leads in schools (DfE, 2021). MHSTs are intended to work closely with the mental health leads and give advice to schools and colleges, including supporting with referrals.

The latest figures show that take-up of the senior mental health lead training has increased to 70% of schools – around 16,700 – as of March 2024, up from 58% last year. The DfE aims to offer this grant funding to all schools by next year.

Despite the eight-year roll-out, Claire Murdoch, NHS national mental health director, said that the MHSTs had been “fast-tracked” – a comment certain to raise eyebrows in some quarters.

She said: “NHS mental health teams are currently in contact with record numbers of children and young people, and since fast-tracking the introduction of these MHSTs, it’s brilliant that we can confirm that well over two-fifths of pupils in schools and in further education are now covered by expert support.

“This achievement shows the joint commitment to mental health and wellbeing across the NHS and education is crucial, and we know that these world leading services are helping children and young people with many anxieties or issues they may have.

“NHS staff and our partners in education continue to push implementation, and we are on course to reach more than 50% this time next year, so I would urge everyone, whether you’re a teacher, parent or child, to access this early support.”