Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to require all teachers to have training in mental health therapeutic approaches.

The Department want all schools to be calm, safe, supportive environments that promote and support pupils’ mental wellbeing. However, teachers are not mental health professionals and should not be expected to diagnose or treat mental health conditions.

The Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Core Content Framework (CCF) has been designed in the knowledge that the quality of teaching is the most important factor in improving outcomes for pupils. Managing pupil wellbeing is recognised within that. Careful consideration has been given to the needs of trainee teachers to support pupils holistically, and the Early Career Framework (ECF) builds on that learning for early career teachers. These reforms support the Department’s ambition that all new teachers starting in the profession learn how to meet the needs of all pupils.

Both the CCF and the ECF outline what trainee and new teachers should understand in respect of adaptive teaching and meeting pupil needs. The CCF sets out a minimum entitlement for trainee teachers and places a duty on providers of initial teacher training and their partner schools to meet this entitlement through their course curricula. Courses must be designed so that trainee teachers can demonstrate that they meet the Teachers’ Standards at the appropriate level. This includes the requirement in Standard 5, that all teachers must have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils.

The Department is exploring opportunities to build teacher expertise through a review of the CCF and ECF frameworks. Aiming to conclude by the end of 2023, the review will identify how the frameworks can equip new teachers to be more confident in meeting the needs of pupils and young people.

The Department has put in place a wide range of additional training and guidance to help education staff understand and respond to mental health issues in schools. This includes offering all state schools and colleges a grant to train a senior mental health lead by 2025, enabling them to introduce effective, whole school approaches to mental health and wellbeing. More than 13,800 schools and colleges have now received a senior mental health lead training grant, including more than 7 in 10 state funded secondary schools.

Teachers can access online resources such as Psychological First Aid training and the MindEd e-learning platform. The National Professional Qualification for Leading Behaviour and Change can also help teachers who support pupil wellbeing.