The Government recently announced that they will be increasing the rollout of mental health support in schools. It is, without question, a welcome development; expanding access to mental health support in schools is something the Society has long called for, and it's encouraging to see a public commitment to ensure all pupils can access some form of support by 2029.
But while this is a step in the right direction, we're not quite there yet.
We're pleased to see the focus on early intervention, emotional resilience, and working alongside schools to support attendance and wellbeing. Mental Health Support Teams have such great potential; done well, they can reduce pressure on teachers, embed a whole-school approach, and most importantly, meet children before they reach crisis.
We also welcome the recognition of the link between emotional wellbeing and school attendance, and the government’s understanding that behaviour and attendance challenges often begin with unmet emotional needs, not simply wilful disengagement. These are principles we strongly support.
But for all the investment and infrastructure, one word is missing from this announcement - again.
Counselling.
Counsellors are already part of the solution, so why are they invisible in policy? Thousands of qualified counsellors are already working in schools up and down the country, quietly supporting children and young people every day. They're listening, holding space, helping young people to process their trauma, anxiety, grief, and stress in safe, consistent, boundaried relationships. Many are the difference between a child staying in education or dropping out altogether.
Yet, once again, counselling is absent from the narrative.
It's not mentioned in the MHST rollout. It's not guaranteed within the MHST model. And despite its track record of impact and strong evidence base, it continues to be treated as optional, or worse: overlooked entirely.
“This government is bringing in vital services to schools, so they can intervene early, support pupils, and help prevent conditions from becoming severe,” said the Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting
Alas, counselling, a proven, relational intervention that does exactly that, is nowhere to be found in the detail.
Children and young people are not a homogenous group. What works for one will not work for all. Some respond well to group resilience sessions; others need the safety of a one-to-one space; some need a calm adult who will simply listen without labelling, without diagnosing, without rushing to fix.
That’s what counselling can offer. Not as a replacement for clinical services, but as a vital, relational part of a diverse support ecosystem.
We fully support the MHST model, but more than that we also support and promote Barnardo’s call for an MHST+ model, where counselling is explicitly integrated as a core offer. Without that, the risk is that we continue to build systems that are structured, visible, measurable... but not always what children need.
The government states that MHSTs currently reach seven in ten secondary school pupils, and that six in ten pupils overall will be covered by March 2026. These are significant numbers. But ‘reach’ does not always mean ‘access’, or 'get appropriate support from'. A child in crisis may still wait weeks or months for meaningful help. A teacher may still be unsure how to refer. And in some areas, demand will continue to outstrip capacity.
And so we ask:
- Will these teams have space to build relationships?
- Will there be enough capacity for ongoing, one-to-one support?
- Will young people have a real choice in the type of support they receive?
This announcement is one of many recent signals that the government is rightly taking the mental health of children and young people seriously; we welcome the progress, and we know this will be good news for many school communities.
But, as ever, we must read between the lines. We risk reinforcing the very invisibility that so many young people describe when counselling is not named, when relational support is not prioritised, and when therapeutic presence is treated as peripheral.
At a time when children are telling us they feel isolated, unheard, and disconnected, we cannot afford to build systems that leave out the people who are trained to listen.
Our ask
As the rollout continues, we urge the Department for Education, the Department of Health and Social Care, and NHS England to:
- Include qualified counsellors as a named part of MHST teams
- Commit to a diverse offer of therapeutic support, including relational, non-clinical interventions
- Consult with CYP and the counselling workforce to ensure the support being provided aligns with what’s actually needed
For more information about our campaign work, visit ncps.com/about-us/campaigns or contact Meg Moss, Head of Public Affairs & Advocacy via the Contact Us page
