Many schools throughout Europe, including in Ireland, are not providing sufficient mental health support to their students, a new study has found.

The study focused on what schools in a number of European countries are doing to support the mental health and wellbeing of their students. The 1,346 schools were located in Ireland, the UK, France, Poland, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Serbia and the Ukraine.

A total of 171 schools in Ireland were assessed, both primary and secondary.

The UK researchers found that throughout Europe, just 47% of schools said that mental health provision was a high or essential priority for them, with 3% admitting that it was not a priority at all. In Ireland, 50% of schools said that it was a high or essential priority.

Meanwhile, more than half of European schools admitted to not implementing a school policy regarding mental health. In Ireland, this figure was just under 50%.

A number of barriers to implementing mental health policies were noted, including limited staff capacity, limited access to specialists and/or local mental health services, a lack of funding and a lack of national policy.

Responses varied depending on the countries involved. For example, four in five Dutch schools said that they had sufficient support to help their student's mental health compared to just over one in three French schools.

Overall, secondary schools appeared to have better links with mental health services and agencies than primary schools, and were more likely to have a school policy on mental health.

Private schools also reported better mental health support than public schools and appeared to face less barriers when providing these supports.

"With the increasing focus on schools as the setting for early identification and support for children's mental health, our findings highlight the need for greater resources, training, and access to specialists and services in schools," the researchers commented.

Details of these findings are published in the journal, Child and Adolescent Mental Health.