ETF mental health and wellbeing project

Overview

The ETF mental health and wellbeing project is aimed at supporting all leaders in the further education (FE) and skills sector. The project began in October 2022.

The project aims to provide resources and a space for leaders in further education and skills to lead a culture change to embed mental health and wellbeing across their organisation.

2025-26

The ETF Mental Health and Wellbeing Programme has been extended for a fourth year. This year AoC will deliver, in collaboration with the FE and skills sector, two roundtable webinars and two sets of resources.

The two webinars will begin with a partner organisation, speaking about the context of the theme. This will be followed by a roundtable discussion for leaders from FE and skills providers to share what they are doing around the theme being discussed. The conversation during the webinar will inform the development of a guidance document to support FE and skills providers in creating policy or strategy documents. The guidance document will be supported by a set of case studies from different FE and skills provider types.

The two themes are linked to the DfE's FE Student Support Champion priorities. They are:

1. Addressing misogyny and violence against women and girls
2. Supporting care-experienced learners.

The webinars took place in October and December 2025, the resources are currently being developed.

Share your examples

For the resources, we are looking for examples of how different FE and skills providers have been working to address the themes. If you have any examples that you are happy to share with us for the resources, relating to either theme above, please complete this form: ETF mental health and wellbeing effective practice examples. Some examples will be expanded into case studies whereas others will be used to help develop the resources.

2022-25

During the first three years of the project a series of resources, blogs, webinars and podcasts have been developed, focusing on a variety of key topics related to mental health in the FE and skills sector. Resources were developed by several organisations, including Education Support, Charlie Waller Trust, Natspec and Anna Freud. Perspectives and practical tips from current FE leaders and specialist mental health organisations were captured through webinars, blogs and podcasts. The links below are for each individual resource that is available.

Visit the ETF mental health and wellbeing support for leaders webpage