
Designated Senior Mental Health
Lead Training & Certificate
Individual places & In house courses
Online /
Face-to-Face
3 Day Course
£
£520+VAT per delegate
The Course
Brightcore Consultancy delivers training for Senior Mental Health Leads in schools and colleges which meets the Department for Education’s quality criteria and has been very highly rated during the quality assurance process. It has an average delegate rating of 4.95 out of 5 for overall quality (please see our many fantastic testimonials here)
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The highly acclaimed Designated Senior Mental Health Lead Training and Certificate is an extensive and authoritative training course that ensures schools/colleges have the most comprehensive, effective and financially viable whole-school/college approach to mental health and wellbeing in place. Since September 2021, this course has been fully funded by the DfE for eligible schools and colleges (see below for funding details). Schools and Colleges that are ineligible for the grant are, of course, more than welcome to enrol on the course but will need to self-fund their place.
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Working with an expert trainer and a highly experienced Senior Mental Health Lead, who has trained Senior Mental Health Leads in over 750 schools and colleges nationwide, you will be introduced to the DfE’s requirements for the role of the DSMHL, and learn proven, long-term, evidence-based strategies to create, lead and promote a dynamic, bespoke mental health and wellbeing approach for your setting.
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Our course consists of three days of live instructor-led training as well as an additional 1-2-1 review and coaching session, and costs £520+VAT per delegate. (For schools and colleges who have already completed the training with us and now wish to train further colleagues, we offer a subsidised rate for additional delegates of £390+VAT - please just email us if this is an offer you would like to take up.)
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Places are limited to a maximum of 15 delegates per course to ensure high quality, bespoke training.
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An overview of the course structure can be found here.
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Take a look at what previous delegates have said about the training here.
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Our Course is suitable for those who are new to the role of Senior Mental Health Lead or those who are looking to take on this role in the near future, and is designed to meet the DfE’s Learning Outcomes for Senior Mental Health Leads by developing and supporting their knowledge and understanding of how to design, implement and sustain an effective whole school/college approach in accordance with the eight key principles as set out by Public Health England.
The Eight Key Principles

Leadership &
Management

Identifying need and monitoring impact of interventions


Targeted support and appropriate referrals
Staff development


Creating an ethos and environment
Working with parents, families and carers


Enabling the student voice
Curriculum, teaching and learning
Course Information
Course Code - SMHL018
Learning Level - Beginner
Settings aimed at - Primary Schools, Secondary Schools, Colleges (Sixth Form and Further Education), Middle deemed Primary, Middle deemed Secondary, Alternative Provision
DFE Funding
The DfE provides a funding grant (£1200 per setting) for schools and colleges to train Senior Mental Health Leads which is currently available until the end of March 2024, although the intention is to ultimately offer all further funding grants to facilitate training for all state funded schools and colleges by 2025.
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Further details about Grant eligibility and how to apply for the funding are available on the gov.uk site here. Our highly-acclaimed course meets the DfE’s criteria for the ‘Learning outcomes for senior mental health leads’, and schools and colleges will be able to apply for this course to be fully funded as part of the £1200 grant, and, as our course only costs £520, the remaining £680 is permitted to be used by settings in any of the following ways:
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For supply cover for the senior mental health lead, should a school or college need to backfill a senior lead while undertaking training​
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To fund further training, activity or resources that supports the development of a senior mental health lead, and contributes to the implementation of an effective whole school or college approach to mental health and wellbeing in a setting including:​
- Additional courses or coaching that support the further development of the senior mental health lead, enabling them to establish, implement or sustain a whole school or college approach to mental health and wellbeing​
- External support to assess your existing school or college approach to promoting and supporting mental health, to identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement​
- Online resources and toolkits that support the senior lead, or other staff, to embed, sustain or otherwise improve the effectiveness of their whole school or college approach to mental health and wellbeing (many resources are available for free)
- Other activities by the senior lead within their setting that focus on raising wider awareness and understanding of their whole school or college approach to better promote and support mental health (eg promotion materials or awareness sessions for education staff) funds can also claim an additional.
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If you would like to book a DfE funded place on one of the upcoming courses, please follow these steps to ensure you access funding:
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1. Check the eligibility of your school or FE college on the Department for Education’s terms and conditions
2. Complete the DfE grant funding form The DfE funding Code for this course is: SMHL018
3. Book your place on the DSMHL training via our courses page or email us directly if you would prefer to pay via invoice.
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Once you have booked a place on the course, Schools and Colleges who are eligible to apply for the funding will need to submit proof of booking to the DfE as well as the course code as part of their grant application, The DfE funding Code for this course is: SMHL018. The DfE wishes to reassure learners that your grant is reserved once you’ve successfully completed the first form confirming your eligibility (the DfE has honoured every grant application made, and retrospective payment of grants is normal practice – they are paid at certain dates every 12 weeks).
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For those who wish to book a place without applying for the DfE grant, please simply complete stage 3 above.

