mental health | FE Week

There’s widening participation, but narrowing mental health support

More disadvantaged learners are entering FE and HE, but stretched services mean many can’t access the help they need

FE failing to keep pace with teen mental health implosion

The college sector has lagged schools in the rollout of mental health support teams and is set to miss a government target this month

Students still haunted by Neolithic instincts in the social media age

Our kids are consumed by friendships but social media is pushing it out of control

Off-the-job ‘confusion’ sparks apprentice mental health warning

Apprentices struggling with anxiety and stress from job and college demands, survey finds

Palvinder Singh, principal, Kirklees College

Pally Singh, principal at Kirklees College in West Yorkshire, has to juggle all the usual demands of college leadership – funding, regulations, rules. But the biggest job facing leaders is much more ambiguous than that, he tells Jess Staufenberg  As you walk down the hill from Huddersfield train station towards Kirklees College, the town unfolds […]

Further Education Colleges are getting creative to fund Mental Health for students

The mental health of students is a significant concern for further education settings. Around one in five 17- to 22-year-olds has an identifiable mental health condition. An Association of Colleges report, based on a survey of 107 colleges, found that: All colleges reported having students with the following manifestations of mental health issues: self-harming, eating disorders, […]

How can ITPs support learners with complex mental health needs?

Many learners tell us mainstream school negatively affected their mental health and that they need more support now, writes Zoe Whitmore Our education centres sadly reflect the national data on mental health, seeing increases in self-harm, suicide attempts and suicide ideation among our learners. The mental health and wellbeing of our young people has never […]

Are you lonesome tonight? Check how your colleagues and students are feeling

Social, emotional and existential loneliness may be affecting more of your colleagues and learners than you realise, writes Stuart Rimmer Amid busy college corridors and offices, it might seem strange to talk about loneliness. This week a charity that the FE sector has supported for many years, the Mental Health Foundation, has placed the focus […]

Fit your own mental health oxygen mask before fitting others

If we want our staff to support students, we must prioritise their wellbeing, writes Asfa Sohail Even though life for many feels it is returning more to ‘normal’ since the pandemic hit, mental health issues show little sign of abating. Instead, poor mental health is increasing exponentially, currently affecting around one in six young people. […]