Teachers raise alarm over lack of mental health support in schools

The findings, from a National Education Union (NEU) survey of over 18,000 union members, indicate that 66 per cent of teachers and 57 per cent of learning support assistants believe their school, college or nursery does not provide enough access to CAMHS for students.

A quarter of teachers and a third of support staff said that their place of education had no access to CAMHS support for students, the report finds.

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Around half added that their setting had no access to a school nurse, trained mental health first aider, or senior mental health lead.

Respondents cited a lack of access to external support services – such as CAMHS, specialist SEND assessment and educational psychologists – as a major barrier to supporting pupil mental health.

Some 71 per cent of teachers and 68 per cent of support staff agreed this is a large barrier, while 24 per cent of teachers and 26 per cent of support staff said it is an occasional barrier.

Responding to the report, Tom Madders, director of campaigns at young people’s mental health charity YoungMinds said: “The government must take urgent action to reduce the number of young people reaching crisis and ease the pressure on schools.

"Schools also need to be able to refer pupils to services with confidence that they’ll be seen quickly, so we need an early support hub in every community and for four week waiting times for NHS services to become a reality.”

High workload, an insufficient number of school staff, and high stakes exams and assessments were also ranked as significant barriers to supporting children and young people’s mental health.

Teachers and support staff added that the mental health services available to students are “overstretched”, with one respondent saying: “CAMHS waiting lists are so long that you can’t get support anywhere near quick enough for the children.”

Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU said: “It is a failure of government that we have an infrastructure so stymied by underfunding, that young people who need support simply cannot get access to it.

“This is not a sustainable situation. The government must do everything in its power to support schools properly, so they can be properly funded and better staffed, and boost the ability of external services to meet demand.”

Chair of the British Youth Council, Zara Khan added: “The latest findings from NEU underscore that greater investment needs to be made to ensure young people struggling with their mental health are receiving access to tailored support in school. The government must prioritise measures to develop the availability and quality of CAMHS across the UK.”