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Written question asked by Jim Cunningham (Labour) on Friday, 19 July 2019, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 24 July 2019 (named day). It was answered by Nick Gibb (Conservative) on Wednesday, 24 July 2019 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Students: Counselling

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the counsellor to student ratio in (a) secondary schools and (b) primary schools in each local authority area in England and Wales.

Answer

The Department recognises that school-based counselling by qualified practitioners can play an effective role in supporting mental health and wellbeing. It is up to schools to decide what support to provide for pupils based on their individual circumstances.

The information requested is not held centrally as the Department does not collect information on the ratio of counsellor to pupil numbers in primary or secondary schools in England. Education is a devolved matter and it is for the National Assembly to decide on policy for schools in Wales.

The Department carried out a nationally representative survey of school provision published in 2017. This indicated that 61% of schools offer counselling services, with 84% of secondary schools providing their pupils with access to counselling support.[1] The Government has provided advice on how to deliver high quality school-based counselling and this can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/counselling-in-schools.

[1] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/634726/Supporting_Mental-Health_survey_report.pdf.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
279377
Session
2017-19
Subjects
Counselling Wales Students Ratios
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk