Over one million children referred for mental health support in a year

The number of children being referred to mental health services in England is on the rise.

Latest figures from 2024-2025 are almost double those from 2018-2019.

The annual report, Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services: 2024-25, also confirms that referrals have increased by 10% in the past year to exceed one million.

It’s been described as a young people’s mental health crisis by Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza, who says there is ‘no disguising the fact that the figures in this report are stark’.

She adds that while there are no apparent ‘straightforward answers’ to what has been driving the rise, anxiety was listed as the most common reason for referrals to support services, accounting for 16%.

Statistics obtained by her office further suggest that demand has been ‘growing especially’ for children with suspected autism and neurodevelopmental conditions.

Cases of suspected autism rose by almost 50% in a single year, surpassing 96,000, while other neurodevelopmental conditions, such as ADHD and Tourette’s syndrome, increased by nearly a quarter.

In these instances, children are most likely to face some of the longest waits, with fewer than 1 in 5 going on to receive support in 2024-25. Those who did wait were on lists for, on average, a year.

Dame Rachel has warned of the waits youngsters are facing to receive diagnoses and treatment, with more than 60,000 waiting over two years for help, which has increased from over 44,000 the previous year.

She has acknowledged that there have been improvements to services over the past 12 months, but the ‘colossal challenge’ facing them cannot be disregarded, as demand is rising faster than capacities and funding can keep up with.

Going forward, Dame Rachel has called for a change in approach and more collaboration between ‘health, education, and social care to ensure children are getting the help they need in schools and the community’.

Furthermore, the charity YoungMinds has raised concerns about the barriers facing Black children and those from racial minorities, particularly those referred with suspected autism or neurodevelopmental conditions.

This comes after Black and Asian children were underrepresented in referrals but have been found to be enduring severe distress or facing crisis when they are referred.

Statistically, 25% of Black children were referred for being in crisis compared with 16% of Asian children and 7.4% of white children.

Children from the most deprived 10% of areas in England accounted for 15% of referrals, too, while those from the least deprived postcodes made up 7.6%, stats that come as an independent inquiry concluded once-in-a-generation reforms are needed to rectify an education system that ‘is not serving the interests of white working-class children’.

Independent Inquiry into White Working-Class Educational Outcomes co-chair Baroness Morris said responsibility ‘cannot sit with schools alone’ and insisted that such children being among the lowest performers was not due to a lack of ambition or effort from young people themselves.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has said multiple generations have been ‘robbed of opportunity’, adding: ‘The communities in this report are my communities. I know what they’ve given this country and what this country has failed to give back.’

The inquiry spoke to thousands of children and their parents, plus hundreds of teachers, while analysing data of the young people who are white British and receiving free school meals.

Findings determined there is a growing consensus among white working-class families that the education system as of now does not guarantee future success for them.

In terms of numbers, this manifested as 48% of white working-class children reaching a good level of development by age five, compared with 75% of white British children not on free school meals.

At GCSE level, 36% of white working-class pupils achieved a grade 4 (pass grade) or above in English and maths, compared with 72% of all pupils not on free school meals.

Widespread changes are now being called for to improve mental health support in children’s early school years, which would also include increasing free childcare hours for disadvantaged families, expanding apprenticeship access, and ensuring reading fluency at primary school is a national priority for white working-class children, in particular.