Government advice on mental health and behaviour in schools: Where is the evidence?

The quality of research into the impact of social and emotional learning (SEL) interventions in UK schools needs to improve in order for the programmes to be successful, says new research.  

The research, led by Professor Roisin Corcoran, Chair in Education at the University of Nottingham, and published in Educational Research Review, provides the first comprehensive review of the research into SEL interventions in the UK and United States over the last 50 years. The study was funded by the Jacobs Foundation.

The Department of Education in the UK recently published guidance on mental health and behaviour in schools, in which schools are encouraged to promote students’ positive mental health and wellbeing using evidence-based approaches including SEL interventions.