Learning Beyond the Label: Enhancing Classroom Identification and Support for Children’s Wellbeing (HOLMESJ_U26SENSSC)
Key Details
- Application deadline
- The deadline for submitting your application for SENSS funding on HEIApply is 12:00 GMT on Monday 16 February 2026. No extensions to this deadline will be permitted.
- Funding type
- Competition funded project (Students worldwide)
- Location
- UEA
- Start date
- 1 October 2026
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Description
Project Background
Cognitive difficulties and poor socio-emotional wellbeing at school are among the strongest predictors of academic disengagement and long-term educational disadvantage. In England, access to support typically depends on formal diagnoses (e.g. anxiety or ADHD) or Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). However, increasing demands mean there are long waitlists, exacerbating inequities for families unable to pursue private assessments or advocate for their child’s needs. While Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) offer low-intensity interventions in schools in England, their coverage is uneven and relies on integration with overstretched specialist services, leaving many pupils without timely or tailored support. This PhD will address this gap by bringing together expertise from psychology, health, and education to develop a practical, diagnosis-independent tool designed for teachers to identify needs and implement evidence-informed strategies.
Project aims and objectives
This PhD will deliver a range of studies to co-produce and validate a practical, classroom-ready cognitive and socio-emotional mapping tool to help classroom teachers profile children’s needs and implement evidence-informed strategies. It includes a three-month integrated placement providing hands-on experience of practical and strategic approaches to delivering needs-led support for children and young people across health services (NHS) and education (schools). This placement deliberately bridges NHS needs-led transformation and school-based transformational practice, providing a rare systems view into how clinical pathways and activities interface with education and classroom realities. This dual exposure will benefit the PhD project and build the student’s skills in working across services to deliver impact.
The project has four core objectives:
To synthesise existing evidence on how socio-emotional and cognitive functioning is conceptualised, measured and supported in school settings, identifying domains that are both theoretically robust and classroom-relevant.
To co-produce, with teachers and clinicians, a feasible classroom mapping tool for profiling socio-emotional and cognitive needs in children aged 8–11, drawing on behavioural indicators that are observable within everyday classroom practice.
To establish the reliability and validity of this tool against independent, established indicators of socio-emotional and cognitive functioning that are not typically accessible to teachers.
To co-develop an evidence-informed bank of classroom strategies, mapping socio-emotional profiles to individual supports and whole-class adaptations, informed by educational and clinical expertise.
This studentship would suit candidates who are passionate about improving access to support for children in schools and who are motivated by needs-led, inclusive approaches to wellbeing and learning.
Supervisors
The supervisory team brings complementary expertise across psychology, education and health. Professor Joni Holmes - University of East Anglia (Primary Supervisor) is Professor of Psychology and Associate Dean for Research at UEA, with international expertise in transdiagnostic, needs-led approaches to children’s learning and mental health and extensive experience leading large, impact-focused research programmes. Dr Elizabeth Byrne (Second Supervisor) is a Lecturer in Psychology with expertise in cognitive development and implementation science, with experience in evaluating interventions. Practice-based co-supervision is provided by Eleanor Margesson, Assistant Head Teacher at More House School, Surry, and Dr Steve Bush, Director for Children and Young People’s Services across Cambridgeshire Community Services and Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trusts.
How to apply
To be considered for this funding, you must first apply to SENSS for this collaborative studentship. Please read the SENSS Collaborative Studentship Application Guidance Notes before completing our online application form. The Guidance Notes are available here.
If your application is successful, you will need to make a separate application for a place to study at the University of East Anglia, your host University. You will be provided with a link with information on how to make your application to the University of East Anglia once you have been offered a SENSS studentship.
The deadline for submitting your application for SENSS funding on HEIApply is 12:00 GMT on Monday 16 February 2026. No extensions to this deadline will be permitted.
References
i) Astle, D. E., Holmes, J., Kievit, R., & Gathercole, S. E. (2022). Annual Research Review: The transdiagnostic revolution in neurodevelopmental disorders. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 63(4), 397-417.
ii) Holmes, J., Guy, J., Kievit, R. A., Bryant, A., Mareva, S., Gathercole, S. E., & CALM Team. (2021). Cognitive dimensions of learning in children with problems in attention, learning, and memory. Journal of Educational Psychology, 113(7), 1454.
iii) Mareva, S., CALM team, & Holmes, J. (2019). Transdiagnostic associations across communication, cognitive, and behavioural problems in a developmentally at-risk population: A network approach. BMC Pediatrics, 19(1), 452.
iv) Richards, H. (2024). “It was tough making sure it happened”: SENCo experience of the reality and risk of education and health care plan implementation. Educational Review, 76(2), 299-320.
v) Van Herwegen, J., Ashworth, M., & Palikara, O. (2019). Views of professionals about the educational needs of children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Research in developmental disabilities, 91, 103422.
Entry requirements
To apply for a Masters plus PhD (+4.5-year award), you will need: qualifications or professional experience equivalent to a Bachelor’s degree (Honours). To apply for a PhD only (+3.5-year award), you will need: qualifications or professional experience equivalent to a Masters degree, or a Masters degree and already have the research skills needed to successfully complete your research project.