Evaluation highlights positive impact of school-based counselling and Education Wellbeing Practitioners, with pupils reporting improved emotional regulation, resilience and coping skills. Minister for Education and Youth, Hildegarde Naughton, has published the Evaluation of the Counselling in Primary Schools Pilot (CPS-P), which shows how these landmark initiatives have made a significant difference to the wellbeing of children, families and school communities.

The Counselling in Primary Schools Pilot was launched in 2023 by the Department of Education and Youth in response to increasing wellbeing and mental health needs among children. Over three school years, the pilot, led by the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS), introduced two new components in Irish primary schools:

• One-to-one counselling for children with mild to moderate mental health needs in seven counties: Cavan, Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Mayo, Monaghan and Tipperary
• Education Wellbeing Practitioners (EWPs), a new school-based support service operating in 77 schools across Cork, Carlow, Dublin 7 and Dublin 16.

Working under the supervision of NEPS psychologists, EWPs provide practical wellbeing supports directly in schools through whole-class lessons, small-group programmes and one-to-one skills building sessions with pupils. They also provide guidance and support to parents and school staff, helping to strengthen wellbeing across the wider school community.

The evaluation, conducted by the Centre for Effective Services (CES), found that:

• One-to-one counselling and EWP support were positively received by pupils, parents, school leaders and staff.
• The supports delivered significant benefits, particularly for pupils who might otherwise have struggled to access appropriate support.
• Delivering supports in schools was a key strength, making them accessible, familiar and integrated into pupils’ everyday routines.
• Children reported improvements in emotional regulation, resilience, communication skills and coping strategies.
  Pupils said they felt heard, valued and supported.
• Children reported using breathing exercises, mindfulness techniques and other coping strategies both in school and in other settings.
• Parents observed positive changes in their children’s behaviour, confidence and emotional wellbeing.
• Pupils described the effect of the wellbeing sessions with the EWP saying, "It pushes everything bad out of your head, and you focus on more." Another said, "It makes me feel better because it's helped me calm down."

A principal advised that “Our pupil established a good relationship with the counsellor and appeared to trust him from the outset, enabling her to communicate openly, freely and safely her deep-seated ongoing anxieties in the areas of critical illness and mortality”. A parent fed back "She [was] so much… happier after each session, [the counsellor] had a massive impact on her. She just loved every second of it. It was brilliant for her”.

A Principal speaking of the one-to-one skills building sessions with the EWP said, "In a six-week block, you can get real value in changing a child's mindset or helping them get over some difficulty they're having. It was often those children who would have fallen through the cracks. Parents also spoke positively about the importance of providing wellbeing supports early in a child's life. One parent commented: "I think it's fantastic. It's so tough on children at the moment. I think it's really important just to get it into their head from a young age that it's ok to reach out and talk to somebody."

Overall, the CES evaluation found that the pilot strengthened awareness of wellbeing across school communities and helped develop a shared understanding and language around wellbeing among pupils, parents and staff. The findings demonstrate the value of early intervention and prevention focused supports in primary schools and highlight the important role schools can play in helping children build resilience, develop healthy coping strategies and thrive.

Publishing the report, Minister Naughton said, "I welcome this evaluation, which demonstrates the positive benefits of providing counselling and wellbeing supports in the school setting. “The evaluation found that pupils had positive experiences engaging with counsellors and Education Wellbeing Practitioners, felt heard and valued, and developed practical tools to support emotional regulation and their mental health and wellbeing. “The findings also demonstrate the important role schools can play in promoting wellbeing and providing timely, preventative supports for children. The positive results from this pilot have already informed the expansion of these supports, including through the DEIS Plus scheme. “While specialist mental health assessment and therapeutic services remain the responsibility of the Department of Health and the HSE, school-based supports can complement these services by building resilience, strengthening wellbeing and supporting early intervention.”

The evaluation found that one-to-one counselling provided valuable, targeted support for individual children. However, the scalability of this component was limited by challenges in securing qualified and accredited counsellors, as well as ensuring appropriate referrals for the short-term counselling. In contrast, providing schools with access to Education Wellbeing Practitioners demonstrated particular strengths in reaching a wider range of pupils, parents and school staff.

By combining early intervention, prevention and whole-school approaches, the EWP model showed strong potential as a sustainable and scalable approach to supporting wellbeing across school communities, while helping to ensure that children receive appropriate support at the earliest possible stage. The positive findings from the pilot have already informed the expansion of these supports. In October 2024, the Department extended counselling supports to 61 urban DEIS primary schools in Dublin South-West and Dublin North.

In addition, as announced in May 2026, primary schools participating in the DEIS Plus scheme will have access to Education Wellbeing Practitioners, alongside one-to-one counselling supports for a small number of children.

Notes to editors 
The pilot comprised two strands:

• Strand 1 introduced one-to-one counselling supports for children with mild to moderate mental health needs in primary schools across counties Cavan, Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Mayo, Monaghan and Tipperary.
• Strand 2 introduced EWPs into 77 schools across cluster areas in Cork, Carlow, Dublin 7 and Dublin 16. Working under the direction and supervision of NEPS psychologists, EWPs provide a regular presence in schools and deliver early intervention and preventative supports to pupils, parents and school staff to strengthen wellbeing and resilience across the school community.

Counselling in Primary Schools Pilot (Strand 1)

• The Department established county panels of pre-approved counsellors. There are currently 44 counsellors on the panel.
• The counselling support was not designed to replace HSE Primary Care Psychology, CAMHS or NEPS services. Rather, it was established as an additional support in response to increased demand and long waiting lists for HSE services following the COVID-19 pandemic.
• NEPS psychologists support schools in identifying children for referral to the one-to-one counselling subject to parental/guardian consent. This ensures that referrals are appropriate and in line with the Department of Education’s Continuum of Support framework.
• Each counselling block consists of up to eight one-hour sessions, including:Six one-to-one sessions with the child.
  Two sessions involving parents/legal guardians and relevant school staff, one before counselling commences and one follow-up session.
• In October 2024, the pilot was extended to 61 urban DEIS primary schools in Dublin South-West and Dublin North.
  In March 2026, the Department launched the DEIS Plus Scheme and Implementation Plan, extending the Counselling in Primary Schools Pilot to 96 primary schools.

Education Wellbeing Practitioners EWPs (Strand 2)

NEPS developed and delivered a comprehensive training programme to equip EWPs which is a new role in Education, to provide evidence-based early interventions.

A new recruitment campaign was launched in June 2026 to support further expansion of the EWPs programme under the DEIS Plus scheme. There is significant interest in this role.

Numbers participating in the Pilot

The total number of primary school children who have benefited from the programme to date is 22,375.

• Under Strand 1 - 2,190 primary school children benefited from one to one counselling.
• Under Strand 2 - 20,185 primary school children benefitted from 1,224 interventions.

In addition to the benefits to the children, in Strand 2 the EWP provided support to in total 4,317 parents/carers, school staff and school management:

• 380 interventions were delivered to 2,768 school management and staff; and
• 104 interventions were delivered to 1,549 parents/carers.