Norfolk & Suffolk Foundation NHS Trust

Trainee Education Mental Health Practitoner (EMHP) East Suffolk

The closing date is 21 September 2025

Job summary

Passionate about the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people? Suffolk Mental Health Support Team (MHST) is based within education settings, ensuring children and young people receive faster access to earlier mental health support. We are excited to be recruiting two Trainee Education Mental Health Practitioners (EMHP) as part of our expanding service.

As a Trainee EMHP you will work under supervision as part of a dynamic mental health team in a creative environment. You will need to be adaptable and have a passion for working with children and young people in education settings. During the training year, post-holders will, under supervision, develop knowledge and practice skills to employ a range of evidence-based interventions for common mental health problems via direct individual and group support for children, young people and their parents, as well as whole school/college approaches, in line with the university expectations.

Vacancies are in our East Suffolk MHST, based in Ipswich. We have additional vacancies in the West Suffolk team, based in Bury St Edmunds, please see the relevant advert for details.

Main duties of the job

Trainee EMHPs will:

o Work alongside a team of mental health professionals delivering a wide range of evidence-informed interventions, under supervision

o Develop and practice evidence-based skills under supervision to work directly with children, young people and families.

o Develop and practice evidence-based skills under supervision to carry out holistic and child-centered mental health assessments, including risk assessments.

Trainee EMHPs are required to:

o Demonstrate the ability to work at degree level, with a proven record of previous learning or formal study in child development, wellbeing or mental health

o Attend the EMHP training course, 100% attendance at teaching is expected.

Trainee EMHPs will have experience of:

o Working with children, young people and their families

o Working and liaising with a wide variety of agencies and stakeholders

o Working with children and young people who have social, emotional and/or mental health difficulties

About us

Here at NSFT we pride ourselves on being a welcoming, talented, friendly and supportive team who like nothing better than sharing experiences and learning from each other. In addition to ongoing training and development opportunities, we are committed to providing an environment in which you can thrive.

Why work for us? We have challenges as a Trust, but we have ambitious aspirations, are pushing ahead with exciting transformation work and we need dedicated individuals to support us on our journey. We have strong, established professional networks coupled with an exceptional leadership team who will ensure you are truly cared for and cared about.

Why Norfolk and Suffolk? The people here are warm and welcoming, you'll never be far from the beautiful coastline or Broads National Park. We're an hour and a half away from London and have an international airport in Norwich too. Our villages, towns and cities are packed full of history, independent cafes, shops and theatres. We have excellent shopping, eating out, top ranking schooling and affordable house prices too.

Details

Date posted

09 September 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 4

Salary

£27,485 to £30,162 a year pa/ pro rata

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

24 months

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

246-WSU7445727

Job locations

Mariner House

Ipswich

IP1 2GA


Job description

Job responsibilities

Being a Trainee EMHP will be challenging at times, particularly working and studying concurrently, but will also be immensely rewarding and provide opportunities to make a genuine difference to the lives of others. You will join a caring, creative and hard-working environment.

Posts are subject to 2-year fixed term contracts; the first 12 months will be on a training contract at Band 4. On successful completion of training, EMHPs will be employed for a further 12 months (with potential for longer) at Band 5. Training involves attending teaching at the University of East Anglia (UEA), virtually and in person, placement and study days. Some non-teaching weeks are spread throughout the year. Successful candidates will be expected to travel to UEA in Norwich in the first year, but the position will be based in Ipswich.

Please note that you would need to be available to start in the post from the 5th January to ensure you do not miss any of the course.

Interviews are anticipated to take place at the end of September and beginning of October.

For further details regarding the role, please see attached job description and person specification.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Being a Trainee EMHP will be challenging at times, particularly working and studying concurrently, but will also be immensely rewarding and provide opportunities to make a genuine difference to the lives of others. You will join a caring, creative and hard-working environment.

Posts are subject to 2-year fixed term contracts; the first 12 months will be on a training contract at Band 4. On successful completion of training, EMHPs will be employed for a further 12 months (with potential for longer) at Band 5. Training involves attending teaching at the University of East Anglia (UEA), virtually and in person, placement and study days. Some non-teaching weeks are spread throughout the year. Successful candidates will be expected to travel to UEA in Norwich in the first year, but the position will be based in Ipswich.

Please note that you would need to be available to start in the post from the 5th January to ensure you do not miss any of the course.

Interviews are anticipated to take place at the end of September and beginning of October.

For further details regarding the role, please see attached job description and person specification.

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

  • It is desirable that the applicant will have previous experience of working with children and young people

Desirable

  • Experience of working with children and young people who have social, emotional and/or behavioural difficulties

Qualifications

Essential

  • Ability to study at degree level
  • Good solid basic literacy and numeracy qualifications at a minimum of level 2

Skills

Essential

  • Ability to study as a self-motivated learner who can formulate their own progress towards learning objectives and negotiate pathways to achievement with supervisory teams

Desirable

  • Ability to carry out 1:1 therapeutic mental health interventions with families

Knowledge

Essential

  • Knowledge of children and young people gained through academic study in child development, child wellbeing or mental health

Desirable

  • Knowledge of capacity and consent issues including Gillick competence
Person Specification

Experience

Essential

  • It is desirable that the applicant will have previous experience of working with children and young people

Desirable

  • Experience of working with children and young people who have social, emotional and/or behavioural difficulties

Qualifications

Essential

  • Ability to study at degree level
  • Good solid basic literacy and numeracy qualifications at a minimum of level 2

Skills

Essential

  • Ability to study as a self-motivated learner who can formulate their own progress towards learning objectives and negotiate pathways to achievement with supervisory teams

Desirable

  • Ability to carry out 1:1 therapeutic mental health interventions with families

Knowledge

Essential

  • Knowledge of children and young people gained through academic study in child development, child wellbeing or mental health

Desirable

  • Knowledge of capacity and consent issues including Gillick competence

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Additional information

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Employer details

Employer name

Norfolk & Suffolk Foundation NHS Trust

Address

Mariner House

Ipswich

IP1 2GA


Employer's website

https://www.nsft.nhs.uk/Pages/Home.aspx (Opens in a new tab)


Employer details

Employer name

Norfolk & Suffolk Foundation NHS Trust

Address

Mariner House

Ipswich

IP1 2GA


Employer's website

https://www.nsft.nhs.uk/Pages/Home.aspx (Opens in a new tab)


Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Clinical Team Manager

Matthew Pull

Matthew.pull@nsft.nhs.uk

Details

Date posted

09 September 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 4

Salary

£27,485 to £30,162 a year pa/ pro rata

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

24 months

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

246-WSU7445727

Job locations

Mariner House

Ipswich

IP1 2GA


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