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15 April 2026

Tag: mental health

We desperately need parents to control student device use at night

Parents want us to help their struggling child – but worrying habits at home are the biggest problem, writes Emma Boulton Roe We are fighting a losing battle. Another student of mine is struggling. Lethargic, desperately trying to focus and depressed. Not meeting his potential. In fact, he is far from being the best version […]

Why the delay to mental health teams reaching all colleges?

Colleges are reporting more suicides and eating disorders – they need better support now, writes Richard Caulfield Over a year ago we published our mental health survey, with stark results. Now, all the feedback we have from the first term of 2021-22 is that the challenge is increasing. It’s driven by more learners presenting with mental […]

Research into FE staff wellbeing is now more important than ever

We need to rethink the implications of the pandemic on wellbeing, writes Stephen Corbett The costs of the pandemic for the further education sector are at present largely unknown. FE institutions may already be able to identify the initial costs, such as the amount spent on PPE for health and safety procedures and on IT […]

What does a good college mental health strategy look like?

To celebrate Mental Health Awareness Week, Sarah-Louise Neesam explains how West Suffolk College has developed and implements a student welfare strategy I have been a student welfare manager for 17 years, a long period with which to watch changes in the demands made on the welfare service at West Suffolk College. Ten years ago, after seeing […]

Government ignoring apprentices in mental health plans

Apprentices have been ignored in the government’s plans to improve support for learners with mental ill-health, according to a critical report from two influential committees of MPs. The education and social care select committees were full of criticism for proposals laid out in December in a green paper on beefing up mental health provision for […]

FE leaders need mental health support too

It can be lonely at the top, admits former principal Neil Bates People who have headaches but describe them as migraines have probably never suffered from a real migraine. People who sometimes feel a bit down and say that they are depressed have probably never suffered from depressive illness. My friend Joanne has a migraine […]

Healthy organisations need healthy leaders

The whole character of an institution is shaped by its leaders’ ethics, writes Dame Ruth Silver Leadership and mental health are subjects close to my heart and involve questions of trust, openness, civic responsibility and ethical engagement in further education. The issue is of current concern. In recent years, FE staff have been pushed towards […]