Teachers risk mistaking exam stress for mental health issues, as the Department for Education launches a new training scheme to help them spot the difference.

One representative from every state school in the country will be offered a mental health training workshop as part of a £9.3 million Government scheme.

Jaime Smith, director for mental health and wellbeing in schools at the Anna Freud National Centre for Children which will oversee the training, said that teachers need to understand how the referral process works.

She said that the pilot, which ran in 1,500 schools, showed that the training improved teachers' understanding about “what they can do to keep children in schools and support them in schools before referring onto specialist services, so only making that referral when it’s necessary”.

Ms Smith added that teachers need to “understand the difference” between a clinical diagnosis when someone might suffering from something serious, to normal levels of stress.

The DfE has already published new guidance on mental health and behaviour in schools, in which teachers are encouraged to refer children on to external specialists if they display symptoms of mental health issues.

Damian Hinds, the Education Secretary, said: “Having someone in school who knows enough about the system, and the sort of issues that turn up in young people’s lives and their mental health to know what the appropriate referral is.