Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of expanding mental health first aid training for staff in educational settings.

The department does not hold data on the number of Mental Health First Aiders in educational settings. Schools and colleges are able to decide what training they offer to their staff based on the individual circumstances of the setting.

The department ensures that education staff have access to a range of training to help them understand and respond to the mental health and wellbeing issues that pupils and students face. Anyone supporting children and young people can now access an online Psychological First Aid training course. The department’s recent £15 million wellbeing for education recovery and return programmes also provide free expert training, support, and resources for education staff to help promote and support the wellbeing and mental health of pupils and students and recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 14,000 state-funded schools and colleges in England were reported to benefit from the two programmes, delivered through local authorities.

The department has also committed to offer all state schools and colleges in England a grant to train a senior mental health lead by 2025, enabling them to introduce effective whole school or college approaches to mental health and wellbeing. This is backed by £10 million in the 2022/23 financial year. Over 8,000 schools and colleges, including over half of state-funded secondary schools in England, have taken up the offer so far.

Schools may also consider other professional development, including National Professional Qualifications (NPQs). The Leading Behaviour and Culture NPQ is for teachers who have, or are aspiring to have, responsibilities for leading behaviour and pupil wellbeing in their school. Fully funded scholarships to undertake NPQs are now available for all state-funded schools, as well as state-funded 16-to-19 organisations.

The department provides a list of further mental health support and resources to promote and support mental health and wellbeing. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mental-health-and-wellbeing-support-in-schools-and-colleges. Further resources and support are accessible at: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2021/09/03/mental-health-resources-for-children-parents-carers-and-school-staff/.