Key information about the MindWorks trial

We are currently looking for secondary schools (mainstream and Alternative Provision) to participate in the MindWorks research trial starting in September 2026.

By taking part, you will be helping to build ground-breaking evidence that will help us understand the best ways to support young people aged 11-16 to better understand and manage their emotions and behaviour at school and home, helping them and those around them find more positive ways to handle challenging situations.

We are evaluating the effectiveness of MindWorks through a randomised controlled trial. If your school takes part, it will be randomly allocated to either the MindWorks Group (receiving the intervention), or the Schools Support group (students continue to receive school support as usual). All schools will receive £500 for supporting us with data collection.

The project will run from Autumn Term 2026 to Winter Term 2028. Your school would participate for one school term during this period.

More information about MindWorks

This project specifically aims to consider how systemic factors, including racism and discrimination, affect young people’s experiences of the world around them, and how they are perceived by others.

Unlike traditional programmes that focus only on the individual child, MindWorks provides:

• Individual sessions with a wellbeing practitioner for the child, and
• Support for the child’s entire network (including caregivers and school staff) to ensure that the child receives consistent support.

The table below provides an overview of the programme schedule, and the expected involvement across the term for young people, caregivers and schools.

How will my school benefit?

Participating schools will benefit from the following:

• Expert Support: Access to a team of wellbeing practitioners, led by a qualified clinician from Anna Freud to support your most at-risk students.
• Free Resources: All intervention materials are provided at no cost.
• Evidence Building: Help create groundbreaking evidence on how to support emotional regulation and reduce exclusions among young people.
• Incentives: As compensation for taking part, schools in the School Support Group can choose between receiving £500 or high-quality continuing professional development (CPD) training from Anna Freud. In addition, all schools will receive £500 for supporting us with data collection.

Which schools are eligible to take part?

We are looking to recruit schools which meet the following criteria:

• Mainstream or alternative provision (AP) schools.
• Currently we are only prioritising recruitment of London-based schools, but we are happy to receive inquiries from schools in other locations as well.
• Schools that do not already provide a similar programme
• Estimate they have at least 25 students who meet the eligibility criteria for the programme. This means these students are experiencing some or all of the following:
  • Getting into verbal or physical conflict with family members, friends or school staff
  • Breaking things
  • Experiencing challenges with following rules
  • Having difficulty engaging with school
• They may also:
  • Have a history of repeated suspensions or exclusions
  • Be at risk of exclusion in the next academic year
  • Have a history of involvement with the criminal justice system
• All students put forward for the programme will also need to meet the following criteria:
  • Have at least one school-based adult willing to take part  in the intervention
  • Have English language skills sufficient to access a verbally based psychological intervention.
  • Have school attendance of at least 40% in the previous term.