Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of mandating the provision of access to counselling in schools and colleges.

School based counselling plays a role as part of a ‘whole school’ approach to supporting mental health and wellbeing. 61% of schools offer counselling services, with 84% of secondary schools providing their pupils with access to counselling support.[1] The Government has provided advice on how to deliver school based counselling, available to view here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/counselling-in-schools.

The Department has not made the provision of access to counselling in schools and colleges mandatory. Schools have the freedom to decide what mix of support to offer pupils based on their particular needs.

The green paper ‘Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision’ proposed significant further guidance to schools to make these decisions. New Mental Health Support Teams will increase the provision available to pupils with emerging mental health problems. The green paper proposals offer additional funding for new professionals trained in evidence-based interventions, with supervision from expert clinicians. The teams will also provide better routes into specialist NHS services for the pupils that need them.

[1] Supporting Mental Health in Schools and Colleges (2017)