New training launched to support neurodivergent students
Our new training programme aims to improve wellbeing support for neurodivergent students and boost their sense of belonging.
New national training to strengthen wellbeing and belonging in schools
We have launched new training to empower school staff to improve mental health and wellbeing support for neurodivergent students.
We estimate that more than 10,500 neurodivergent students will benefit from the programme – called Neurodiversity and Wellbeing in Schools - over three years.1 The training is available for state school staff from primary and secondary schools in the UK for free, with online and in-person training options available.2
The training's launch comes during Children’s Mental Health Week 2026 which, this year, focuses on the importance of children and young people feeling a sense of belonging in their schools, communities, and homes.
Why neurodivergent students need better support at school
One in seven children in the UK are estimated to be neurodivergent and, compared with neurotypical children, are at increased risk of mental health and wellbeing challenges, including at school.3,4 For example, research from the RE-STAR team, which includes academics from Anna Freud, last year found that neurodivergent adolescents experience twice the emotional burden following upsetting events at school compared to their neurotypical peers.5
Neurodivergent students are also more likely to experience challenges with attendance, with one study finding that 92% of students experiencing attendance difficulties were neurodivergent.6 This is often due to their needs not being met and a lack of funding in schools to provide this care. Seven in ten autistic children and young people say school would be better if more teachers understood autism, while ADHD students are more likely than their peers to have less positive attitudes towards school.7,8
School staff also report a lack of training around supporting neurodivergent students. Previous research has shown only 39% of teachers have received more than half a day’s autism training, with the figure dropping to 14% for secondary school teachers.9
Neurodiversity and Wellbeing in Schools, which was coproduced with a panel of autistic, ADHD and AuADHD people of different ages, offers staff an evidence-based and experience-sensitive approach to supporting autistic and ADHD students. Along with workshops, it also includes mentoring opportunities, where staff receive tailored support from Anna Freud experts to review and improve policy and practice in their setting.
The launch follows a pilot version of the training - Autism and Wellbeing in Schools - which we launched in 2023 and supported 154 school staff. Neurodiversity and Wellbeing in Schools builds on the pilot by including adaptations for school and system leaders, along with support for students with ADHD. It will also eventually have a train-the-trainer module, helping create sustainable change within schools.
School staff can now register for Neurodiversity and Wellbeing in Schools training.
Roisin McEvoy, Head of Schools Training and National Programmes at Anna Freud, said:
“This training aims to empower staff to shift their school’s culture and practice to become more inclusive and compassionate, celebrating difference and enabling all children to grow and thrive. Unfortunately, far too many neurodivergent students are experiencing barriers to education, which can cause or compound mental health challenges. A relational approach, where trust, empathy and connection are prioritised, can help break these down.
“It’s been a joy to see the schools we worked with through the pilot make changes that are having a real impact on everyone in the school community, particularly neurodivergent students. This includes relational behaviour policies replacing punitive ones, the provision of quiet-clubs and adapted spaces as well staff telling us that they feel calmer and more confident.”
Dr Georgia Pavlopoulou, Associate Professor and Director of the Group for Research in Relationships And NeuroDiversity (GRRAND) at UCL and Co-Chair of the Neurodiversity and Wellbeing in Schools programme at Anna Freud, said:
“Too many autistic and ADHD students experience school as overwhelming, isolating or confusing, but it does not have to be this way. This programme supports schools to intentionally create environments where those students, and their peers, experience agency and belonging.
“We are committed to training staff to create schools where students don’t have to perform to belong. This means meeting difference and distress with curiosity instead of correction, and designing environments that actively signal safety, welcome, and care, drawing on the latest research in neurodevelopment and mental health. When young people feel understood, valued, and connected to staff, peers and their physical environment, learning becomes possible, sustainable, and meaningful.”
Faisal Hussain, Higher Level Teaching Assistant at Greater Peterborough University Technical College, completed the pilot Autism and Wellbeing in Schools training in December 2025. He said:
“I signed up to the training as I found that neurodivergent students' differences can sometimes be misunderstood by the students' themselves, staff members, parents and carers. This is especially the case when they are undiagnosed and their needs impact factors like mental health, learning, self-identity, relationships and attendance. I also sometimes struggled to differentiate between different traits of neurodivergent behaviours and where they can stem from, along with deciding how to support students with behaviours of concern in a trauma informed way.
“Through the training, I learnt that empathy with a whole school, holistic person-centred approach is needed to support neurodivergent students. This has helped me develop clarity with a more investigative, mentoring, coaching outlook. I’ve used this to work with the most vulnerable SEND students alongside their parents and teachers to support them in this college or otherwise help them on their journey to a school that’s more suitable for their needs.
“The programme also helped me accept my own autism and use it to inspire neurodivergent youngsters authentically, including how to look for tools and strategies to develop their lives. I’d highly recommend the training it as gives staff the tools to see beneath the surface of a student’s behaviour, and the understanding of how and when to react differently.”
Maciej Matejko, an autistic advisor and researcher, is supporting the programme by developing and delivering parts of the training, drawing on both his personal experience and research expertise. He said:
“I’ve been interested in autism for a long time, initially as a way to help me understand myself before I was officially diagnosed. This led me to autism advocacy and academia, where I’ve undertaken research with neurodivergent young people, including those experiencing challenges with school attendance.
“Their perspectives, which I’ve helped to weave into the training, show how important the school environment is for the emotional life of students. Many talk about how overwhelming school can be but also how challenging it is to explain this to neurotypical people. It can feel like there’s 100 different things going on at the same time every day and the cumulative weight of this can be really disabling, making attendance incredibly difficult.
“To help staff better manage this, we use concepts such as the experience sensitive approach and the ABCs, which stands for agency, belonging and collaboration. These are helpful frameworks for improving wellbeing and learning. I hope this training will give staff more insight into what’s happening with their neurodivergent students and enable practical, sustainable change.”
Our free Neurodiversity and Wellbeing in Schools Programme is now open for booking to state primary and secondary school staff across the UK.
Staff from independent schools can email autism.schools@annafreud.org to enquire about availability.