Student report: NHS trailblazer leads the way on student mental health

A college group in London and a college in the West Midlands are leading innovative work to bring mental health and wellbeing services into the heart of FE.

At a session at the Association of Colleges Annual Conference and Exhibition, South Thames College Group shared the outcomes and impact of the NHS trailblazer project to embed child and adolescent mental health service (camhs) within college student support services.

It dovetails with research from the Association of Colleges which found that one third of colleges reported at least one student suicide in the 2023/24 academic year.

Peter Mayhew-Smith, Chief Executive and Principal, South Thames Colleges Group (STCG), and AoC Mental Health Reference Group Chair, said that the most standout impact was that the college group does not currently have any students on a waiting list to receive mental health support. He explained that students have access to one-to-one intervention, workshops, drama therapy, and clinical psychology.

The plan now, is for AoC to work with NHS England to shape a national 10-year mental health strategy, to model this provision across the country, he added.

Caroline Gibbs, Clinical Psychologist, NHS, who has worked with STCG on the trailblazer, praised the work, and said that students have been able to get the correct support from the right people. The mental health support staff have become an asset to the college, she added, allowing students to gain trust and connect with them.

Alongside the trailblazer work, other colleges are developing critical partnerships with NHS services to bring mental health support in-house.

Sal Friel, Head of Student Support, Heart of Worcestershire College (HoW), said the key is being able to tailor support to student need, and being able to offer services like therapy quickly. “You can refer young people into all different services, but they have to go to it for it to work,” she said.

Working with HoW College, Brogan Gibbons, Locality Service Manager, Wellbeing and Emotional Support Teams in Schools, Camhs, explained that through the school and college support teams, more than 100 different providers across the country have access to services, and plans are in place to expand further.

Ruby Hedden is studying UAL creative media production: Extended Diploma in journalism at Exeter College. She was reporting from the Association of Colleges Annual Conference and Exhibition.