Written by Dean Johnstone, CEO and Founder of Minds Ahead.
Across the country, schools are reporting a rise in emotionally driven absence. More pupils are struggling to attend school, not because they don’t want to learn, but because they feel emotionally overwhelmed.
This is often described as Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA), and while the terminology varies, the pattern is familiar: anxiety, withdrawal, and a loss of confidence that prevents children from accessing education, despite supportive efforts.
Some question whether this rise reflects a true increase in distress, or whether young people are simply more attuned to mental health language and more likely to express discomfort.
A study published in July 2025 by the Youth Futures Foundation, led by researchers at the University of Manchester and UCL, offers a robust, evidence-based answer:
No — the rise in youth mental health problems is not simply a matter of increased awareness or reporting. The crisis is real, and its effects are deepening.
What the Report Shows
The study analysed long-term population data from England and explored ten proposed drivers of rising anxiety and low mood among young people aged 14–24. Its conclusions are clear:
- Rates of emotional distress have increased significantly since 2010, particularly among girls, young women, and young people from White British or mixed ethnic backgrounds.
- This rise cannot be explained by increased willingness to talk about mental health. The research found that changes in reporting thresholds were small and insufficient to account for the overall trend.
- Critically, the consequences of distress have become more severe. Mental ill health is now more strongly associated with negative real-world outcomes, including smoking, becoming NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training), and disengagement from education.
“If the increase were due to increased awareness,” the authors write, “we would expect the functional impact of distress to decline. In fact, the reverse is true.”
Linking to EBSA: A School-Level Expression of Wider Pressures
The report does not explicitly refer to Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA). However, its findings align closely with the known risk factors and presentations associated with EBSA in practice, including:
- Increasing rates of anxiety and low mood
- Declining sleep quality
- Growing impact of economic stress on young people’s resilience
- Reduced access to preventative services for children and young people
Taken together, these factors point to a rise in emotionally driven disengagement, particularly from school — a trend widely reported by school staff, education psychologists and local authorities.
At Minds Ahead, we see EBSA not as a separate issue, but as one manifestation of the broader mental health pressures young people are navigating.
The Risk of Normalisation
As the scale of need increases, there’s a risk that schools — overburdened and under-resourced — begin to adapt rather than challenge. We adjust to rising numbers of emotionally absent pupils, overwhelmed peer mentoring schemes, or longer waiting times for CAMHS, and slowly accept them as normal.
But this crisis is not normal.
And without systemic response, we risk slipping into a state where we treat symptoms as routine, rather than asking what’s driving the distress in the first place.
What Schools Can Do – Within Their Sphere of Influence
Schools cannot solve structural inequality or reverse the cuts to youth services alone. But they can lead with insight and intention, shaping environments that recognise distress early and respond compassionately.
Here are three actions that are both practical and evidence-aligned:
1. View EBSA as a systemic signal
Recognise EBSA as more than an individual attendance issue. It reflects a constellation of emotional, social, and economic stressors, many of which are intensifying.
2. Prioritise relational safety and staff confidence
Support all staff to identify signs of emotional distress early, especially when these manifest as behaviour, withdrawal, or disengagement. Relationships remain the strongest protective factor.
3. Align interventions with root causes
Ensure pastoral responses address anxiety, sleep disruption and family stress, not just attendance compliance. Where possible, link with local services to provide wraparound support.
How Minds Ahead Can Help
Minds Ahead works with schools, MATs, and local authorities to design evidence-informed approaches that meet real needs.
- Our Level 5 and Level 7 qualifications build the capacity of school staff to lead whole-school mental health strategies and respond to EBSA with insight.
- Our consultancy services support systems change — aligning policy, training, and practice to create emotionally healthy school environments.
- Our peer mentoring programmes equip students with skills to support one another safely and sustainably.
- Explore our qualifications framework
- Get in touch – Contact us
Final Word
The rise in emotionally based school avoidance is not about “fragile kids” or overdiagnosis. It is the educational face of a deeper, measurable crisis in youth mental health.
The data is clear. The need is growing. And schools are not powerless.
Let’s respond with compassion, confidence, and clarity — not with resignation.