The mental health and wellbeing of both learners and teaching staff are among the most pressing issues facing education in the coming decade. This special issue of the BERA Blog presents a collection of articles that arose from the inaugural conference of BERA’s Mental Health, Wellbeing and Education special interest group, which brought together researchers, academics and practitioners from across the education sector to discuss concerns, practical solutions and an ambitious and dynamic research agenda for the future.

The articles in this special issue report on groundbreaking projects supporting mental health and wellbeing in education, and showcase some of the latest research in this area. Collectively the authors aim to shape the research agenda in this crucial area for 2020 and beyond by illustrating the scale of and potential solutions to mental health and wellbeing issues across age groups and educational settings.

The first instalment, published on Tuesday, 25 February, focusses on children, young people and schools; the second part, which publishes on Tuesday, 3 March, explores the mental wellbeing of adult learners, students and teachers.