Using measurement tools to understand pupils' mental health needs

Schools and colleges need to understand their students' mental health needs in order to implement a successful whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing.

Surveying your students enables you to:

• measure their needs
• identify the most suitable interventions to address these
• allocate resources
• measure how things change over time.

There are many different surveys and measurement tools out there which schools can use to do this.

This document details:

• how to choose a survey
• what to do with the results
• practical things to consider.

Using this resource

This resource is designed for:

• use by mental health leads working with students aged 5 to 19+.

Learning outcomes

This resource addresses the following learning outcomes:

• Use (and be able to adapt as required) relevant tools to assess need, and monitor interventions to support pupil and student progress.
• Implement a process to identify those who may need additional support, working with other staff across the school to use pre-existing documents, such as education health care plans, where appropriate.
• Work with staff, families and local services to understand the mental health and wellbeing issues that could be impacting on behaviour and attendance to improve outcomes for pupils/students, and ensure that all school policies reflect this.