Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p>Purpose This study examines the national reach of England's Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) across regions, education settings and governance types, and evaluates school- and college-reported impact across direct support, whole-school activity and access to specialist services. Design/methodology/approach: Descriptive secondary analysis of Department for Education (2026) national coverage data and the 2025 MHST school and college survey (2,421 responses; 26% response rate), covering schools and colleges in England supported by an MHST during 2025–2026. Percentage-point differences were calculated descriptively from published aggregate percentages; no inferential tests were performed. Findings: MHSTs covered 60% of pupils/learners and 48% of schools/colleges nationally. Pupil coverage was 79% in state-funded secondary schools compared with 42–44% in special, alternative and post-16 settings. Among respondents, 92% reported beneficial support and 92% rated timely direct support effective, compared with 71–79% for attendance, student voice, staff development and curriculum activity. Originality/value: This is among the first practitioner-relevant analyses of newly published national MHST implementation data, identifying a persistent gap between individual and whole-school functions with direct implications for public mental health policy, equitable rollout and workforce planning.</p>