Youth Mental Health - What Schools Need to Know

There is growing evidence that the mental health of children and young people is getting back on track after the adversity that culminated in the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it’s also a reminder of ongoing disparities that schools urgently need to confront. Despite encouraging trends, the latest findings can act as both a comfort and a wake-up call.

A new report was commissioned by the Coalition for Youth Mental Health in Schools, which surveyed more than 1,000 pupils aged 11-18. The findings suggest that 77% of students now describe their mental health as ‘quite good’ or ‘very good.’ For older students aged 16-18, the proportion experiencing poor mental health has dropped by half since 2021, down from 21% to just 10%.

There’s also evidence of growing trust by pupils in schools: 28% of older students believe their school is doing everything it can to support their mental wellbeing, compared to 20% in 2021. These figures point to the positive impact of wellbeing initiatives and improved mental health awareness across the education sector.

Despite these gains, the report draws attention to persistent inequalities and troubling disparities:

• Gender gap: 84% of boys rated their mental health positively, compared to just 70% of girls.
• Socio-economic divide: Students from lower-income households (social grades DE) are significantly less likely to report good mental health (69%) compared to their more affluent peers (87% among social grades AB).
• Stress and pressure: Pupils from families earning under £30,000 report greater school-related stress (average 4.9/10) than those from families earning over £60,000 (average 4.1/10).

The report also reflects technology's complex role in young people's emotional lives. Notably, more teenagers said losing their phone would ruin their day (32%) than receiving a poor grade (23%) or being put in detention (25%).

The report’s findings carry clear implications for school Designated Safeguarding Leads, Designated Mental Health Leads (DMHLs) and senior leadership teams:

1. Strengthen Targeted Support
• Schools should examine their 'mental health offer' and ensure it reaches the pupils who need it most, especially girls and those from poorer families. This could include personalised programmes, mentorship programmes, or group support systems.
2. Equip Staff with Training
• Senior leaders need to ensure staff training for mental health remains a focus. Staff should feel competent to identify the early signs of distress and respond sympathetically and effectively in all parts of the school, including pastoral and classroom settings.
3. Take a Gender-Sensitive Approach
• The gap between boys’ and girls’ mental health suggests that a more nuanced response is needed. Schools should reconsider what they offer from the perspective of gender, so that provision meets the needs of all pupils, whatever their experiences.
4. Tackle Digital Wellbeing Head-On
• Considering the emotional dependence on smartphones, digital wellbeing education must be about more than just putting limits on screen time. Schools can help students by promoting thoughtful technology use, integrating and embedding digital literacy in the curriculum, and working closely with families.
5. Push for Systemic Support
• Schools are crucial players, but they can’t solve youth mental health in isolation. DSLs, DMHLs and senior leaders should campaign for the delivery of broader policy commitments, such as access to school-based counsellors, and support local partners in the building of an effective multi-agency network.

Whilst the report findings indicate improvement, we must regard the current picture of mental health wellbeing with cautious optimism. As Jane Lunnon, Head of Alleyn’s School and Co-Chair of the Coalition for Mental Health in Schools notes:

‘This is the clearest sign yet that the long shadow of the pandemic may finally be lifting. But the recovery isn’t reaching everyone. Girls and pupils from poorer families are still at far greater risk of poor mental health, and schools can’t fix that alone.’

The message is clear: schools are heading in the right direction, but work remains ongoing to ensure that mental health services reach all students equitably. For schools, the Green Shoots and Grass Roots report provides both encouragement and a strategic guidepost, however schools must continue to embed mental health into their safeguarding frameworks.

SSS Learning

30 April 2025