Trainee Education Mental Health Practitioner

The Opportunity

Salary: NJC Grade 7 £29,540 to £32,061 per annum. Upon successful completion of the course, you will move up to NJC Grade 8 £32,597 to £35,412 per annum

Contract Type: Permanent

Working Pattern: 37 hours per week, full time, Monday to Friday, 09:00-17:00

Location: Multiple locations across West Sussex. Your base location will be agreed with you at interview

Closing date: 26 April 2026

Interview date: Taking place across 08, 11, 13, and 14 May 2026

Please note: Successful candidates will need to be available to start from 01 September 2026

As a Trainee Education Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP) you will be offered a full-time training position.

You will be expected to work under supervision as part of a dynamic integrated mental health team.

This approach requires creativity, flexibility, and adaptability, and above all a passion for working with Children and Young People in educational settings.

To succeed at this role, you will need to demonstrate the ability to study as a self-motivated learner at post-graduate degree level and learn in a variety of settings.

Alongside this, you will have a great passion and enthusiasm for CBT-informed, evidence-based early interventions for mental health problems. You will be self-motivated and a team player with integrity, openness, and an awareness of others. You will need excellent time management, organisational, and communication skills.

The Trainee Education Mental Health Practitioner will:

• Work closely alongside a team of mental health professionals delivering a wide range of evidence informed interventions, under supervision.
• Develop and practice evidence-based skills under supervision to work directly with Children, Young People, and families.
• Develop and practice evidence-based skills under supervision to carry out holistic and child-centred mental health assessments, including risk assessments.

For more information on the Key Skills as well as the Qualifications and/or experience required, please refer to the Job Description attached.

Trainee/Qualification Information

Our trainee positions are full time roles starting from £29,540 per annum, rising to £32,597 - £35,412 per annum once qualified.

You will attend university twice a week and work towards a Post Graduate Diploma in Education Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP), which will be undertaken at a local Higher Education Institute (Sussex University). Your placement work will be in education settings in West Sussex.

The remainder of the week is placement and work based.

You will learn:

• How to complete low intensity, CBT-informed 1:1 therapeutic mental health assessments and interventions with children and young people and/or their families
• How to support schools with their whole school approach to wellbeing by delivering groups and workshops.

You will need a minimum bachelor's degree (2:1 or 2:2), or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard (in any academic subject) to enrol onto the Post Graduate Diploma in Education Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP) course.

About You

Please refer to the key skills in your cover letter as these will be used for shortlisting criteria.

Key Skills:

1. Ability to learn and acquire new skills around:
   1. Low-intensity, CBT-informed 1:1 therapeutic mental health assessments and interventions with children and young people and/or their families in line with EMHP training.
   2. Assessing risk and recording and communicating it appropriately and taking necessary actions.
2. Ability to develop strong relationships with others and draw on support when needed.
3. Ability to adapt to different methodologies of working depending on who you are working with (this could be teachers, parents / carers, social workers and other mental health professionals in the best interests of the child).
4. Good organisational skills in order to effectively manage an allocated caseload, as well as good administrative skills.
5. Resilience as some cases may be sensitive, traumatic or potentially emotionally distressing.
6. Good written communication skills.

About Us

Working as part of Education & Skills, Thought-Full, The Mental Health Support Teams (MHST) are an exciting new initiative and an important strand of the Government's 2017 Green Paper 'Transforming Children and Young People's Mental Health Provision'.

We fulfil 3 core functions:

1. Supporting the senior mental health lead in each education setting to introduce or develop their whole school approach.
2. Delivering evidence-based interventions in schools for mild to moderate mental health issues.
3. Giving timely advice to school and college staff, and liaising with external specialist services, to help children and young people to get the right support and stay in education.

The Trainee Education Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP) is a new professional role which delivers CBT-informed, evidence-based early interventions for children and young people and parents / carers in educational settings in England such as schools and colleges.

Benefits

As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance, and are rewarded for the work they do.

For a full list this can be found at our Rewards and Benefits page.

Upon joining us you will have access to a range of benefits including the following:

Annual leave: 25 days holiday + Bank Holidays = 33 days

Employer Pension Contribution: TBC, this alters per annum on the 1 April each year. This was previously 18.70% for 2025.

How to Apply

The reference number for this role is CAFHE06264

For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Fran Ruocco, Team Manager, at

To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and complete the application form.

In your application form please outline your motivations for applying and explaining the skills and experience you can bring to the role (please use the key skills in the job description and refer to these in your application, as this will be used for shortlisting) ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV.

Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.

Safeguarding and further information:

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults.

This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check, five years referencing, and an occupational health check.

Equity, inclusion, and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.

If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application, please contact Natalie Greene, Recruitment Specialist, at