Schools have been playing an important role in supporting pupils and staff in the wake of the pandemic and amid the pressures of the recent cost-of-living crisis and wider funding pressures.
As the new school year begins, how have pupil needs changed, how are teachers being supported, and how are senior leaders responding?
A new NFER blog, the second in a two-part blog series exploring the challenges facing schools this term, addresses these questions, drawing on responses from over 350 senior leaders and 800 classroom teachers to NFER’s June 2025 Teacher Voice Omnibus Survey.
The blog is authored by NFER Research Director, Jenna Julius, and Researcher, Gustavo Henndel Lopes.
Key findings show:
- Pressing support needs in schools - Schools continue to report high levels of additional needs among pupils, though with slight improvements since 2022/23. Senior leaders estimate that nearly a quarter of pupils require extra support for general wellbeing, mental health, and to access learning and social and extracurricular activities.
- Access to support via public services is uneven among teachers, highlighting disparities across the system – At least seven in 10 teachers say they received less than a good level of support for their pupils across key support services including Local Authority education services, Physical Health services (e.g., healthcare professionals), External SEND team/specialist expertise and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)/Mental health services.
- Mental health services for pupils are reported as widely inaccessible – Over half of classroom teachers report little or no help from CAMHS/Mental health services, more than for any other service: 67 per cent in primary and 55 per cent in secondary.
- Widespread reliance on external services where needs are unmet by the wider support system around schools - Many senior leaders report commissioning external counselling services to support pupils and teachers in 2024/25. Four in five secondary senior leaders report commissioning it for pupils, and more than three in five did so for teaching staff. This was lower in primaries where three in five commissioned external counselling for pupils, and half of them for teachers.
- Schools under pressure to fill gaps in pupil support - While schools appear to be commissioning external services to fill these gaps, this may not be sustainable in the longer term as financial pressures on school budgets and wider public services stretch resources further.
Commenting on the findings, Jenna Julius, Researcher Director at NFER, said:
“Schools are taking significant steps to support pupils’ and staff, but they cannot shoulder the burden alone. Seven out of 10 teachers report they lack the support they feel they need from key services, and more than half report receiving little or no support from mental health services. This shows that the wider support available to schools remains strained.
“As financial pressures on school budgets and wider public services stretch resources further, there is a real risk that children’s wellbeing and learning will be affected by the strain on support services.”