Trainee Education Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP)

East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust (Cambridgeshire); Cambridge; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 31,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Job summary

East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust (Cambridgeshire) is recruiting for a Trainee Education Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP) Band 4 on a one-year fixed-term training contract. The role will deliver CBT-informed guided self-help interventions to children and young people within educational settings, with training funded by UEA.

The post offers full-time hours across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, with 6 months probation and a pathway to a Band 5 permanent contract upon

Qualifications

• Must have a degree level or equivalent experience in child development, wellbeing, psychology, mental health or education.
• Experience working with children and young people and understanding of the educational system in England is highly desirable.

Responsibilities

• Deliver evidence-based early interventions for children and young people in education settings with mild to moderate mental health difficulties.
• Work with schools and colleges to support their Whole School and College Approach to mental health.

Skills

Driving licence

Education

Degree-level qualification or equivalent experience in child development/wellbeing/psychology/mental health/education

Job description

Main area Trainee Education Mental Health Practitioner ( TEMHP) Grade Band 4 Contract Fixed term: 12 months (Upon successful completion of the training year (passing both UEA requirements and service requirement), a permanent AfC Band 5 EMHP contract will be offered.) Hours

• Full time
• Flexible working

37.5 hours per week Job ref 448-CCYP-8218706-A

Employer East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust (Cambridgeshire) Employer type NHS Site Across Cambridgeshire, Fenland and Peterborough Town Huntingdon/Cambridge Salary £28,392 - £31,157 per annum, pro-rata Salary period Yearly Closing 29/10/2026 23:59 Interview date 04/11/2026

Trainee Education Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP)

Band 4

East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust delivers expert healthcare in people’s homes, community hospitals and local settings across the East of England.

Our nurses, therapists, clinicians, support teams and partners work together to provide coordinated care that supports independence, recovery and wellbeing. We believe people are best cared for close to home, in the communities where they live and belong.

By combining professional expertise with strong local relationships, we help people stay well, feel supported and access the right care at the right time. Expert healthcare, close to home, trusted by our communities.

Different ideas, experiences and backgrounds make us stronger and more creative and applications from all walks of life are welcomed. Our processes ensure that all applicants are treated fairly at every stage of the recruitment process.

East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust is committed to creating a modern and inclusive work environment. We actively promote flexible working opportunities where possible to meet the needs and wishes of our workforce and maintain and improve their wellbeing. We also offer flexible working patterns and we would encourage you to discuss this with the recruiting manager before or during the application process if this would interest you.

We welcome applications from people who share our values and can help us deliver outstanding care in our local community.

Before applying for this vacancy, please make sure you’re familiar with ongoing GOV.uk sponsorship eligibility criteria which will impact the organisations ability to provide sponsorship, whether this is currently or in the future.

Please note, our selection processes are in place to ensure we recruit candidates with the right values and skills. Please be advised that the use of AI in applications is monitored. We remain watchful of candidates who misuse these tools to generate an application that doesn’t accurately reflect their skills.

Please note all new starters will be subject to a 6 month probationary period.

Job overview

Do you want to be part of an exciting and dynamic children’s & young people’s Mental Health service, in an ‘Outstanding’ rated NHS Trust? We're looking for people who are passionate about high quality, early intervention mental health care.

The role is an exciting opportunity to deliver evidence-based early interventions for children, young people and their families, working across Educational and Healthcare settings.

You’ll receive training in delivering Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) informed guided self-help for mild to moderate mental health problems.You’ll gain a (funded) Diploma at the University of East Anglia, whilst working clinically within a new or established Mental Health Support Team (MHST).

Clinical work will be with parents/carers and secondary school aged young persons. You’ll work closely with education settings, supporting their ‘Whole School and College Approach’ to Mental Health.

You’ll be employed on a full-time one-year training contract, Band 4. On completion of the training year (passing UEA & service requirements), a permanent Band 5 EMHP contract will be offered. You’ll be required to successfully complete a probation period of 6 months.

Positions will be available across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

We encourage you to watch these two short videos which give an insight into the role.

Interviews will take place in person on the 4th and 5th November 2026

Main duties of the job

The interview process will involve completing a short practical task followed by an interview. Further details of the task and copies of the interview questions will be issued 24hrs prior to the interviews. Please note some questions will be withheld until your interview. This must be attended in person for consideration for appointment.

Successful candidates will be employed by East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust who deliver MHST services across Cambridgeshire & Peterborough.

During the training year you will need to attend 64 University days, mostly in person at UEA.

Successful candidates will be employed on a full time 1-year training contract at Agenda for Change (AfC) Band 4. Once passing UEA requirements, service requirements & probationary period, a permanent AfC Band 5 EMHP contract will be offered.

Applicants must demonstrate in their application the ability to work at degree level or have an equivalent level of relevant experience, with a record of previous learning or formal study in child development, wellbeing, psychology, mental health or education.

Experience of working with children & young people and an understanding of the educational system in England is highly desirable. Applicants must be able to demonstrate they can balance the conflicting demands of academic study & clinical work.

You must hold a FULL valid driving licence ( not a provisional) and have access to a motorised vehicle as regular travel is required to multiple schools

Working for our organisation

Rated ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission, we are proud to provide high quality innovative services across most of the east of England that enable people to receive care closer to home and live healthier lives.

There’s one reason why our services are outstanding – and that’s our amazing staff who, for the seventh year running, rated us incredibly highly in the national staff survey.

If you share our passion for innovative and high-quality care delivery, then please submit your application and join us on our exciting journey as a leading-edge specialist community provider. All are welcome to apply and our promise to you is a culture which prioritises staff engagement and development.

Our safe recruitment pre‑employment checks are undertaken before an appointment is confirmed and may include a DBS check. Where the role requires you to drive, we'll ask you to validate your driving licence online via the DVLA.

Redeployment - Please note that in the first instance priority for this vacancy will be given to staff who are on the Trusts Redeployment Register.
Closing and Interview Dates -This vacancy may close early if sufficient applicants are received.

Data Protection - A privacy notice detailing how we will handle your data is attached to this advert as a document. Your application will be transferred to our recruitment management system (Trac) once the advert has closed and you will receive notification then detailing how Trac will handle your data.

ALL CORRESPONDENCE will be via the e‑mail address on your application form. If you have not been invited to interview within 2 weeks of the closing date, you unfortunately haven’t been successful on this occasion, but keep an eye on our vacancies as a job that’s just right for you may appear!

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The MHSTs are part of the EEC NHS Trust and sit within the ‘Getting Advice’ and ‘Getting Help’
iThrive model. The iThrive model provides an integrated approach to the delivery of person-centred and needs-led services for children, young people, and families.

The MHSTs work with education settings to provide early intervention for mild to moderate mental health difficulties on a one-to-one and group basis. They provide support to staff in schools and colleges on their ‘Whole School and College Approach’ (WSCA) to mental health as well as to other professionals in other services.

Job Overview

To allow the postholder, under supervision and with support, to develop knowledge and practice skills in:

Delivering evidence-based intervention for children and young people in education settings with mild to moderate mental health difficulties

Helping children and young people within these settings who present with more severe problems to access more specialist services

Supporting and facilitating staff in education settings to identify and where appropriate man-age issues related to mental health and wellbeing

Working with and within education environments to provide better access to specialist mental health services

To evidence development of skills along with associated knowledge to evidence progression towards an academic qualification and practical application

Main Duties & Responsibilities

Therapeutic assessment and intervention

Be educationally supervised, supported and reviewed to provide assessments and deliver outcome focused, evidence-based interventions in educational settings for children and young people experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties

Developing skills in supporting children and young people experiencing mild to moderate
mental health difficulties and supporting their parents/carers, families and educators in the self-management of presenting difficulties

Show evidence in a variety of forms that at all times assessment and intervention is provided from an inclusive values base, which recognises and respects diversity

Discuss with supervisors and agree to accept appropriate referrals for children and young
people in educational settings, according to agreed local and national referral routes, process-es and procedures

Under supervision, undertake accurate assessments of risk to self, others and from others

Learn, understand, rationalise and adhere to the protocols within the educational service to which the postholder is attached

Engage along with more senior staff in the signposting of referrals for children and young
people with more complex needs to the relevant service

To engage in robust managerial and clinical supervision to work safely within the scope of their practice

Gain and practice a range of skills to enable delivery of interventions related to provision of in-formation and support for evidence based psychological treatments, primarily guided self‑help

Practice, evidence, reflect on and demonstrate an ability to contribute to the management of one’s own caseload in conjunction with the requirements of the team

Keep coherent records of all training and clinical activity in line with both health and education service protocols and use these records and outcome data to inform decision making

Complete all requirements relating to data collection

Show evidence of working within a collaborative approach, involving a range of relevant others when indicated. Specifically, work in collaboration with teachers and other educational staff, parents, children, young people and the wider community to enhance and broaden access to mental health services

Contribute to the development of individual or group clinical materials or training materials and go on to develop further such materials as falls within own competence

Training and Supervision

Attend and fulfil all the requirements of the training element of the post including practical,
academic and practice-based assessments

As well as attendance at UEA for training, you will also be required to fulfil private study requirements to enhance learning and prepare assignments for examination, for at least one day a week. Expectation will be that you will be required to study outside of contracted work hours

Apply academic learning from UEA directly into practice

Receive practice tutoring in relation to UEA course work to meet the required standards

Prepare and present case load information to supervisors within the service on an agreed and scheduled basis, in order to ensure safe practice and the governance obligations of the trainee, supervisor and service are delivered

Respond to and evidence the implementation of improved practice through supervisor feed‑back

Engage in and respond to personal development supervision to improve competences and practice

Be involved in the evaluation of the course

Disseminate research and service evaluation findings through presentations and supervisory discussions