Measuring the Whole School and College Approach to Mental Health in England

Abstract Book of the 10th World Conference on Research in Education

Year: 2026

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Measuring the Whole School and College Approach to Mental Health in England

Delia Ciobotaru, Kathryn J. Lester, Amanda Ferrell, Emilia Robinson, Lucy Robinson, Ian Macdonald, Mary John, Becca Randell, Tanya Procter and Robin Banerjee

ABSTRACT:

The Whole School and College Approach (WSCA) is central to mental health prevention and promotion in England, yet many settings lack scalable systems to monitor implementation and its translation into meaningful outcomes. We developed the WSCA Measurement Toolkit, combining a 17-item Implementation Self-Assessment Tool (ISAT) and a 12-item Outcomes Self-Assessment Tool (OSAT), with outcomes rated for both perceived impact and strength of supporting evidence to generate evidence-weighted scores. In our 19-school pilot, we found that higher implementation scores were associated with more favourable outcomes, with stronger associations observed when outcomes were weighted by evidence quality. Following refinement, the Toolkit was implemented digitally and has been adopted by over 200 schools and colleges in England. Many settings engaged with both implementation and outcome measures, with a subset demonstrating repeated use, providing early evidence of scalability and routine feasibility beyond controlled evaluation. In parallel, engagement with national stakeholders, including NHS England, the Department for Education, Ofsted, and sector associations, supported alignment with policy and inspection frameworks. Exploratory linkage with Department for Education datasets is underway to examine associations with setting characteristics and pupil/student profiles. Findings demonstrate the value of structured, evidence-weighted measurement for strengthening implementation–outcome evaluation in education and provide a scalable model for embedding continuous improvement within whole-setting mental health systems.

Keywords: Implementation; Outcomes; Policy; Toolkit; Wellbeing