Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will provide guidance to schools on (a) ensuring that their pupils have opportunities to raise challenges relating to (i) social isolation and (ii) loneliness and (b) strategies for supporting young people that may experience those challenges.

The department works closely with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on the government’s strategy for tackling loneliness, which aims to reduce loneliness across all age groups through building the evidence base, reducing the stigma associated with loneliness and driving a lasting shift.

The department does not hold information on the steps schools and colleges are taking to assess the potential risks of loneliness and social isolation among their students. It does monitor children and young people’s feeling of loneliness and sense of belonging at school through regular parent, pupil and learner panel surveys. The department uses this data, alongside other sources, in its annual State of the Nation reports, which presents trends in children and young people’s wellbeing and related experiences, including loneliness, sense of belonging and relationships.

As part of the department’s approach to loneliness, it wants all schools to provide supportive, inclusive environments where all pupils feel they belong and can form positive relationships with peers and adults. The department’s Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) curriculum supports this, by teaching pupils about the features and importance of healthy, respectful relationships and the wellbeing benefits of time spent with family and friends.

The department has also produced a range of guidance for schools relevant to supporting pupils experiencing loneliness. The department’s statutory RSHE guidance states that a firm foundation in the benefits and characteristics of good health and wellbeing will enable teachers to talk about isolation, loneliness, unhappiness, bullying and the negative impact of poor wellbeing. It makes clear that isolation and loneliness can affect children and it is very important for children to discuss their feelings with an adult and seek support.

Extra-curricular activities also provide valuable opportunities for social connection, both in and outside of schools; the government is taking action to widen access to these opportunities. This includes investing £200 million a year in its holiday activities and food programme and supporting up to 200 secondary schools to improve their extra-curricular offer through the new Enrichment Partnerships Pilot. Through the National Youth Guarantee, the department is committed to every young person aged 11 to18 having access to regular clubs and activities, adventures away from home and opportunities to volunteer by 2025, supporting them to make new lasting social connections.

Finally, the guidance on a whole school or college approach to mental health and wellbeing can help settings ensure pupils have opportunities to raise issues affecting them, which may include social isolation and loneliness, and to support them with these challenges. The guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/promoting-children-and-young-peoples-emotional-health-and-wellbeing.