Trainee/Qualified Education Mental Health Practitioner West Suffolk: Sponsorship Available

Job summary

Passionate about the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people? Suffolk Mental Health Support Team (MHST) is based within education settings, ensuring children and young people receive faster access to earlier mental health support. We are excited to be recruiting Trainee Education Mental Health Practitioners (EMHP) as part of our expanding service.

As a Trainee EMHP you will work under supervision as part of a dynamic mental health team in a creative environment. You will need to be adaptable and have a passion for working with children and young people in education settings. During the training year, post-holders will, under supervision, develop knowledge and practice skills to employ a range of evidence-based interventions for common mental health problems via direct individual and group support for children, young people and their parents, as well as whole school/college approaches, in line with the university expectations.

Vacancies are in our West Suffolk MHST: based in Bury St Edmunds and the Forest Heath Area (Mildenhall, Brandon and Newmarket). We have additional vacancies within our East team, please see the job advert for more details.

Main duties of the job

Trainee EMHPs will:

• Work 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-centered mental health assessments, including risk assessments.

Trainee EMHPs are required to:

•  Demonstrate the ability to work at degree level, with a proven record of previous learning or formal study in child development, wellbeing or mental health
• Attend the EMHP training course, 100% attendance at teaching is expected.

Trainee EMHPs will have experience of:

• Working with children, young people and their families
• Working and liaising with a wide variety of agencies and stakeholders
• Working with children and young people who have social, emotional and/or mental health difficulties

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

• It is desirable that the applicant will have previous experience of working with children and young people

Desirable

• Experience of working with children and young people who have social, emotional and/or behavioural difficulties

Qualifications

Essential

• Ability to study at degree level
• Good solid basic literacy and numeracy qualifications at a minimum of level 2

Skills

Essential

• Ability to study as a self-motivated learner who can formulate their own progress towards learning objectives and negotiate pathways to achievement with supervisory teams

Desirable

• Ability to carry out 1:1 therapeutic mental health interventions with families

Knowledge

Essential

• Knowledge of children and young people gained through academic study in child development, child wellbeing or mental health

Closing Date: 27 September 2026