Responding to new research from the Education Policy Institute which shows that hospital admissions for mental health reasons have increased by 20 per cent since 2017, Sarah Hannafin, head of policy at school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“School leaders will be extremely concerned, but not surprised, by the findings of this report.

“Worryingly, children and young people are still facing a postcode lottery to access timely support from mental health specialists after years of government under-investment.

“We welcome the new administration’s pledge to introduce open-access community mental health hubs and to ensure access to mental health professionals in every school. Over half of pupils still don’t have access to a mental health support team and the roll out of these must be expanded as soon as possible.

“With the right early support, many issues can be dealt with before they escalate and impinge upon children’s wellbeing and education in the long term.”