Student Mental Health Practitioner – London

About the role

The Student Mental Health Practitioner works with student services staff and other healthcare professionals to deliver high‑quality mental health and wellbeing services within a higher education setting. The role provides rapid triage, informal clinical assessments and ongoing support to students with emotional and mental health needs.

Key responsibilities

• Provide informal assessments of students' emotional and mental health needs, offering clinical advice, guidance and facilitating appropriate referrals.
• Manage an active personal caseload of students requiring frequent or ongoing mental health support, documenting and reporting on case management.
• Seek supervision for all aspects of the role, recognising personal and professional boundaries and limitations.
• Respond to student mental health crises, delivering timely risk intervention and coordinating with external emergency and statutory services.
• Deliver information, training and policy workshops to university staff to raise awareness of emotional health issues and support academic retention.
• Coordinate care transitions for students, including care programme reviews, discharge planning, GP consultations and A&E follow‑ups.
• Contribute to Student Services' Health Gain goals through campaigns, educational workshops and prevention activities.
• Liaise with NHS primary/secondary care, GP surgeries, community agencies and statutory health providers to establish effective referral networks.
• Maintain accurate, confidential student records in compliance with data protection legislation and professional standards.
• Work in accordance with legal and ethical frameworks such as the Mental Health Act, NICE guidelines, Equality Act, Health and Safety at Work Act and relevant professional codes (e.g., NMC, BACP, UKCP, HCPC, BPS).

Required profile

• Ability to recognise personal and professional boundaries and to seek appropriate supervision.
• Familiarity with legal and ethical frameworks including the Mental Health Act, NICE guidelines, Equality Act, Health and Safety at Work Act and professional codes of conduct (e.g., NMC, BACP, UKCP, HCPC, BPS).
• Experience delivering mental health support within a higher education environment and collaborating with multidisciplinary teams.