Senior mental health lead training
How to complete an existing application for a senior mental health lead training grant before 31 January 2025.
Applies to England
Senior mental health lead training grants
From October 2021 to December 2024, schools and colleges could apply for a senior mental health lead training grant. The deadline to apply for the grant was 31 December 2024.
The senior mental health lead training grant can be used to:
- cover (or contribute to) the cost of attending a quality assured course for their senior mental health lead
- hire supply staff while leads are training
This guidance is for those who:
- applied for training by 31 December 2024
- need to book training and complete their application by 31 January 2025
We will provide information for schools and colleges who want to self-fund training for their lead as part of continuing professional development, as soon as it is available.
What the training covers
has information about what courses covering a particular area should be aiming to cover.
These outcomes align with the principles of a whole school or college approach to mental health or wellbeing in promoting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing.
Senior mental health lead roles
Schools and colleges decide who is best placed to take on the role of senior mental health lead and undertake training. Every setting’s circumstances are different.
Identifying your senior mental health lead
Your lead could be your:
- headteacher
- deputy headteacher
- member of the senior leadership team (SLT)
- a member of staff who can develop and oversee your setting’s whole school or college approach to mental health and wellbeing
If your senior lead is not a member of your SLT, consider whether they have the authority, capacity and support to influence and lead strategic change.
You will need to make sure your senior mental health lead has sufficient time and capacity to:
- complete training
- meet the learning outcomes for training
- develop and implement a new approach to mental health and wellbeing
Existing mental health leads
Existing mental health leads might wish to access training to:
- develop or refresh their knowledge and skills in specific priority areas
- get more advanced training
- get a relevant qualification
Mental health support teams (MHSTs)
If you are already working with an MHST, your nominated senior lead can also be:
- your MHST coordinator
- responsible for liaising with the team
- a different member of staff
How to complete your application
You need to complete both steps to receive your senior mental health lead training grant.
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If you completed application form 1 to reserve a grant when the application window was open, you will receive confirmation that we have successfully received your grant registration. This will tell you to book a DfE quality assured training course. The course needs to start by 31 March 2025. Keep evidence of your booking as you will need this when you submit application form 2.
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You must submit application form 2 by 31 January 2025 to claim your grant. This form asks you to provide evidence of booking a DfE quality assured course. This can be a scanned copy, screenshot or photograph of your confirmation email or invoice from your training provider.
You will have at least 3 weeks to submit the second form. If you do not submit within 3 weeks, we may release your place to other applicants on our waiting list to ensure grants do not go unclaimed.
If your school or college is applying for a second grant, make sure you tick the declaration to confirm your previous senior mental health lead has left your setting. DfE will not pay your grant if you do not confirm this.
Find a senior mental health lead training course
The training course must be a .
Visit Leeds Beckett University’s online tool for choosing a senior mental health lead training course.
The tool allows you to assess your specific learning needs and preferences. You can then select the most suitable quality assured course. Use the contact details for the course provider to book your selected senior mental health lead course.
Payments
Once you have submitted evidence of your course booking in the second online form, we will review the information provided. We will email you to let you know we have approved your application and confirm when your grant will be paid.
We will make payments on a quarterly basis. When you receive your grant will depend on when you complete application form 2.
Most settings will get their payments on the last working day of:
- December 2024
- March 2025
Academies will get their payments on the sixth working day of:
- January 2025
- April 2025
Maintained schools and maintained alternative provision settings will receive payment via their local authority. All other settings will receive payment directly.
We will make this payment alongside your regular funding. It will appear as a separate line on that remittance.
Updates to this page
Published 2 June 2021Last updated 7 January 2025 + show all updates
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Existing applications for the senior mental health lead training grant need to be completed by 31 January 2025. The application window to apply for the grant closed on 31 December 2024.
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Updated the list of DfE assured senior mental health lead training courses.
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Updated the list of DfE assured senior mental health lead training courses.
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Updated the list of DfE assured senior mental health lead training courses.
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We have added deadlines to complete and submit application forms. We have updated the dates when academies will get payments.
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Updated information on how to claim a senior mental health lead grant for the financial year 2024 to 2025. Also added an updated version of DfE assured senior mental health lead training courses.
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Updated the training commencement deadline from 31 March 2024 to 31 July 2024.
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Updated the list of DfE assured senior mental health lead training courses.
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Updated the list of DfE assured senior mental health lead training courses.
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Information has been added on applying for a second grant.
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Updated the list of DfE assured senior mental health lead training courses.
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Updated the list of DfE assured senior mental health lead training courses.
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Updated the list of DfE assured senior mental health lead training courses.
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Updated the list of DfE assured senior mental health lead training courses.
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Updated the list of DfE assured senior mental health lead training courses.
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Updated the list of DfE assured senior mental health lead training courses.
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Updates have been added for the financial year 2023 to 2024.
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Updated the list of DfE assured senior mental health lead training courses.
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Applicants now gain immediate access to the form for the second stage of their application after completing the first stage. Updated the ‘Applying for a grant’ section to reflect this.
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Training start date extended from 31 March 2023 to 31 July 2023.
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Updated the list of DfE assured senior mental health lead training courses.
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The list of training courses was updated to remove those no longer quality assured by the Department for Education (DfE).
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The list of training courses was updated to remove those no longer quality assured by the Department for Education (DfE).
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List of DfE assured senior mental health lead training courses has been updated.
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List of of DfE assured senior mental health lead training courses has been updated, including additional course information relating to the level and delivery mode.
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Updated the list of DfE assured senior mental health lead training courses.
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Added 'DfE assured senior mental health lead training courses: July 2022'.
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Added an extra resource to the section 'What the training covers' and clarified eligibility in the section 'Who the training is for'.
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Updated the list of DfE assured senior mental health lead training courses.
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Updated the list of DfE assured senior mental health lead training courses.
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Updated for the 2022 to 2023 financial year to include revised information about the application process, links to both application forms and additional information about payments.
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Added a new date for submitting the second part of the grant application under 'Claiming your grants and payments'.
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Updated the list of DfE assured senior mental health lead training courses.
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Updated for the 2022 to 2023 financial year.
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Updated the list of DfE assured senior mental health lead training courses.
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Updated the list of DfE assured senior mental health lead training courses.
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Updated to reflect that grants can now be reserved by schools and colleges who want to undertake training in April and May 2022.
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Updated the list of DfE assured senior mental health lead training courses.
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Updated content to reflect that grants are now available to those on the waiting list in this financial year.
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Updated the list of DfE-assured senior mental health lead training courses.
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Updated as we have allocated all available grant funding for the 2021 to 2022 financial year.
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Updated the list of DfE-assured senior mental health lead training courses.
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Added information about how successful applicants need to provide evidence of booking DfE quality assured training to receive the grant funding.
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Updated the list of 'DfE assured senior mental health lead training courses' with courses SMHL072 to SMHL084.
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Updated 'How do I apply for a grant' section.
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Updated the list of DfE-assured senior mental health lead training courses.
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Updated with latest information on how to apply for a grant.
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Updated list of DfE-assured senior mental health lead training courses.
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Updated ‘Who is the training for’ section and added new sections on ‘How do I access DfE quality assured training' and ‘How do I apply for a grant’. Published the list of quality-assured courses, grant terms document and links to a contact details form and an online tool to help select the most suitable course.
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Added 'Learning outcomes for senior mental health lead training' document in 'Outcomes' section and a new section 'Actions school and college leaders can take now'.
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First published.