“Take young people’s mental health seriously and intervene much earlier,” one 17-year-old girl told our ‘The Big Future’ survey. Sadly, this is far from an isolated plea for help. Children have been crying out for earlier mental health support for too long, yet their concerns have not been properly acted on by successive governments – and now we have reached a critical milestone. Today, I published my fifth annual mental health report on children’s experiences of mental health services in England. The figures are stark. More than one million children have an active referral to mental health services – around one in ten children. Children needing help for their mental health is nothing new, but we cannot ignore the colossal challenge that lies ahead of us. That is why it is vital the new prime minister tackles this issue head on. The number of children seeking support continues to rise. Referral numbers have almost doubled since 2018-19 and increased by nearly 10 per cent last year alone. I have been collecting this data since 2022 and today’s figures are shocking. We cannot sugar coat it. But these are not just figures, they are children. Children whose lives are on hold for months, and in some cases, years while waiting for the support they urgently need. These are our children – young lives paused, struggling to enjoy childhood, attend school, engage in learning or maintain friendships. Schools are seeing this reality every day – in the classroom and playgrounds alike. Schools should not fill gaps As children’s commissioner, teachers and school leaders consistently tell me about the challenges they face supporting children’s mental health needs. And my School Census shows these concerns are widely shared. Access to mental health services for pupils topped school leaders’ concerns about their local area. Seven in ten primary leaders and more than three quarters of secondary leaders listed CAMHS among their top concerns. Schools have stepped up in remarkable ways. School staff are often the first adults to recognise when a child is struggling. They provide trusted relationships, pastoral case, safe spaces, and practical support – frequently going beyond what once would have been expected of them. But schools cannot – and should not – shoulder this burden alone. They cannot fill gaps left by other services. The sharp rise in referrals demonstrates both increasing need and a system that is struggling to respond. While children were able to access support in 2024-25, more children were waiting – and waiting longer. More than 60,000 children were waiting more than two years for support. This is unacceptable. Stuck in the system One of the main drivers for this growth was the increase in referrals for suspected autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions. Referrals for suspected autism increased by almost 50 per cent last year, yet children referred for help with neurodevelopmental conditions these children were among the least likely to receive treatment and often faced some of the longest waits. Too many children are effectively stuck in the system – referred because they are struggling, but unable to access timely support while waiting for an assessment or diagnosis. I have heard time and again, directly from children and their families, how a diagnosis can be life changing. It can provide understanding and open doors for support. But children should not have to wait for diagnosis to receive help. And neither should we have a system whereby a diagnosis is the sole gateway to support. We cannot continue to accept that more children will reach a point where their only option is a referral to NHS services. Prevention and early intervention must be the foundation to our approach. That means strengthening early support in schools and communities, including the further roll out of mental health support teams in schools. This approach recognises children’s mental health does not exist in isolation. Only then could we ensure children with additional needs receive the vital help they need before problems escalate. Listen to young people Young people themselves recognise this. Through their responses to The Big Future so far children indicate how their wellbeing is shaped by every part of their lives – from social media and school pressures to the cost of living, loneliness and uncertainty about the future – all of which affect their mental health. The government and next prime minister must listen to them. There are two major opportunities. Firstly, the forthcoming national mental health strategy is a once in a generation opportunity transform support for children. But it will only succeed if children are at its heart. That’s why it is essential there is a dedicated children’s strand, jointly owned by the Department for Health and Social Care and the Department for Education, so we stop treating children’s mental health as a siloed afterthought. And secondly, health and education must work together, particularly as reforms to the SEND system progress. There also must be greater accountability. We cannot answer some of the most important questions. Are children’s needs reducing? Are interventions helping? I remain optimistic. We have to seize this opportunity to build a new vision for childhood, one that does not silo mental health away from education, family life or wider wellbeing, but recognises that helping children thrive requires collective effort. Today’s figures are stark, but we must not despair. We must act. We have to stop asking children to prove they are unwell enough to deserve help and instead ask how we can help them to thrive.