1
Listen and understand
Ask what is hardest: mornings, travel, separation, lessons, social times, sensory load, bullying, workload, relationships, transitions or fear of falling behind.
National Attendance PortalMental Health & Emotional Wellbeing Attendance Hub
Wellbeing • belonging • attendance
Mental Health & Emotional Wellbeing Attendance Hub
Practical support for schools, CAMHS and children’s mental health services, counsellors, Mental Health Support Teams, educational psychologists, families and other professionals when emotional wellbeing is affecting attendance.
ℹ️
Separate from SEND — but connected when needed.
Mental health and emotional wellbeing can affect attendance with or without a diagnosed condition, disability or special educational need. Start by understanding the child’s barriers and strengths; then connect SEND, health, safeguarding or statutory provision when those duties are relevant.
Mental health and emotional wellbeing can affect attendance with or without a diagnosed condition, disability or special educational need. Start by understanding the child’s barriers and strengths; then connect SEND, health, safeguarding or statutory provision when those duties are relevant.
A practical response
Support wellbeing without losing the connection to education
The aim is not to force a child through distress, nor to allow absence to drift without a plan. Understand what is happening, reduce avoidable barriers, maintain belonging and build a safe route back to sustainable participation.
A mental health difficulty can explain absence. It should also trigger a plan for support, connection and review.
2
Identify the specific friction
“Anxiety” is not yet an intervention plan. Pinpoint the situations, people, times and demands that increase distress — and what already helps.
3
Keep school relationships alive
Agree a trusted adult, predictable contact and a way to stay connected to peers and learning, including during unavoidable health absence.
4
Adjust what can be adjusted
Consider arrival, safe space, check-ins, lesson transitions, workload, social pressure, uniform/sensory issues, movement around site and re-entry after absence.
5
Bring in the right expertise
Use the school’s wellbeing team, counsellor, MHST, educational psychology, school nursing, GP/CAMHS/CYPMHS or other services according to need and local pathways.
6
Review impact, not activity
Review frequently: Is distress reducing? Is attendance becoming more sustainable? Is learning protected? Does the child feel safer and more connected?
Anxiety & EBSA
When anxiety is driving non-attendance
Emotionally based school avoidance/non-attendance is a useful description of a pattern, not a reason to stop investigating. The same presenting anxiety can have very different causes for different young people.
Do
- Take the distress seriously and stay curious about its cause.
- Ask for the child’s view in a way they can manage.
- Map situations that raise or reduce anxiety.
- Agree small, concrete adjustments and who will deliver them.
- Keep contact warm and predictable during absence.
- Use multi-agency support where complexity or risk increases.
Avoid
- Assuming every case is the same.
- Waiting passively for a diagnosis before doing anything.
- Making home the only place where the young person feels safe and connected.
- Using a reduced timetable indefinitely without review.
- Allowing academic work to become an unmanageable “catch-up mountain”.
- Missing safeguarding, bullying, exploitation, family or physical-health factors.
Supported return
Use a phased return as a bridge — not a destination
Where a reduced or phased pattern is appropriate, make it purposeful, time-limited and regularly reviewed. Nation-specific legal and attendance rules differ, so use the relevant national guidance and local procedures.
1. Define the barrierWhat currently makes full attendance unsafe or unrealistic?
2. Set the first safe stepWhich day, entrance, lesson, adult or activity is the best starting point?
3. Protect learningDecide what learning continues when the child is not on site.
4. Set the next increaseMake progression explicit rather than leaving the arrangement open-ended.
5. Review togetherChild, family, school and professionals review wellbeing and attendance frequently.
Multi-agency roles
Who can contribute?
No single professional needs to hold every part of the solution. Be clear about each person’s contribution and avoid parallel plans that do not join up.
School / college
Attendance lead, pastoral team and senior mental health lead coordinate the education response, adjustments, trusted relationships, learning continuity and review.
MHST / wellbeing team
Where available, teams can provide early evidence-based support for common mental health difficulties, advise staff and connect with specialist services.
CAMHS / CYPMHS
Specialist services assess and treat mental health needs that meet local thresholds. Education and health should share relevant information and align plans.
Counsellors
Can provide a confidential therapeutic space while linking appropriately with school safeguarding and support systems within agreed boundaries.
Educational psychology
Can help formulate why attendance is difficult, understand interaction between child and environment, and support graded, relational re-engagement.
Family / carers
Bring essential knowledge about mornings, sleep, physical symptoms, triggers, recovery after school and what the child communicates outside education.
UK perspectives
Use the guidance for your nation
The policy, terminology and statutory framework are not identical across the UK. These links take users to the appropriate national starting points.
🏴
England
DfE attendance guidance plus specific mental-health-and-attendance guidance; NHS MHSTs and CYPMHS pathways.
Open England guidance ↗🏴
Scotland
Included, Engaged and Involved (March 2026) and national health-and-wellbeing policy.
Open Scotland guidance ↗🏴
Wales
Belonging, engagement and attendance guidance, with educational psychology support for EBSA and reintegration.
Open Wales guidance ↗🇬🇧
Northern Ireland
Department of Education attendance guidance plus Emotional Health and Wellbeing programmes and teams.
Open NI wellbeing guidance ↗Practical tool
Wellbeing & Attendance Support Plan
Create a concise child-centred plan. This is not a clinical assessment or diagnosis; it is a coordination tool for education, family and relevant professionals.
National Attendance Portal
Mental Health & Emotional Wellbeing — Attendance Support Plan
Mental Health & Emotional Wellbeing — Attendance Support Plan
Safeguarding and urgent concerns
Do not assume sudden or unexplained non-attendance is “just anxiety”. Consider bullying, abuse, neglect, exploitation, family stress, bereavement, physical illness and other safeguarding factors. If there is concern about immediate safety or serious risk, follow your organisation’s safeguarding and urgent-health procedures rather than relying on this hub.
Live links
Guidance & further reading
Official national guidance first, followed by NHS and established practice resources. Use the filters to find the most relevant links.
EnglandOfficial guidance
DfE: Mental health issues affecting a pupil’s attendance
Practical guidance for schools when social, emotional or mental health issues affect attendance.
Open resourceEnglandStatutory guidance
DfE: Working together to improve school attendance
Current statutory attendance guidance for schools, trusts and local authorities in England.
Open resourceEnglandOfficial guidance
DfE: Promoting mental health and wellbeing in schools and colleges
Whole-school approach, senior mental health leads, MHSTs, targeted support and referral.
Open resourceEnglandNHS
NHS England: Mental Health Support Teams
What MHSTs do in schools and colleges and how they fit with wider services.
Open resourceEnglandNHS
NHS: Children and young people’s mental health services
Overview of support available, including talking therapies and specialist services.
Open resourceEnglandNHS
NHS: Anxiety disorders in children
Signs of anxiety, when it becomes a problem and routes to professional help.
Open resourceEnglandStatutory guidance
DfE: Education for children who cannot attend because of health needs
Statutory guidance on suitable education where physical or mental health needs prevent school attendance.
Open resourceEnglandStatutory guidance
DfE: Supporting pupils with medical conditions at school
Statutory guidance on support for pupils with medical conditions in school.
Open resourceEnglandNHS
NHS: Is my child too ill for school?
Parent-facing health advice, including a section on anxiety and school.
Open resourceScotlandNational guidance
Scottish Government: Included, Engaged and Involved 2026
Scotland’s current national attendance guidance, including persistent and complex absence.
Open resourceScotlandNational guidance
Scottish Government: Health and wellbeing in schools
National policy and resources on wellbeing, relationships, attendance and support.
Open resourceScotlandNHS Scotland
NHS inform: Anxiety in children and young people
Advice on anxiety, signs, support and when professional help may be needed.
Open resourceWalesNational guidance
Welsh Government: Improving school attendance
National attendance guidance and resources for Wales.
Open resourceWalesNational guidance
Welsh Government: Role of educational psychologists
Includes practice around supporting anxious young people and emotionally based school avoidance.
Open resourceNorthern IrelandNational guidance
Department of Education NI: School attendance
Attendance guidance, recording and Education Welfare information for Northern Ireland.
Open resourceNorthern IrelandNational guidance
Department of Education NI: Emotional health and wellbeing
Links to RISE NI, Emotional Wellbeing Teams in Schools and whole-school wellbeing support.
Open resourceUK / PracticePractice resource
Anna Freud: Attendance and mental wellbeing
A curated set of resources for schools and colleges on attendance and mental wellbeing.
Open resourceUK / PracticePractice resource
Mentally Healthy Schools
Quality-assured mental health advice, targeted-support resources and school tools.
Open resourceUK / FamiliesFamily guidance
YoungMinds: School anxiety and refusal
Detailed parent guide on understanding school anxiety, making changes and supporting return.
Open resourceUK / PracticePractice resource
Place2Be: Mental health resources for schools
Resources for school staff supporting children and young people’s emotional wellbeing.
Open resourceUK / SafeguardingSafeguarding resource
NSPCC Learning: Child mental health
Recognising and responding to mental health concerns in children and young people.
Open resource