Implementing nature-based programmes in UK secondary schools

Teachers are struggling to get teenagers outdoors and off their phones during the school day, and a new study aims to find out why nature-based programmes so often fail in secondary schools. This project, part of an Oxford MSc in Neuroscience, analyses interviews with teachers and school leaders to identify the practical barriers and enablers to running nature-based programmes (NbPs) in UK secondary schools. While the mental and physical benefits of time in nature are well documented, many schools struggle to integrate these programmes into the curriculum. The research focuses on the gap between knowing that nature is good for students and actually making it happen in a crowded school day. If successful, this work will produce a clear, evidence-based list of what stops teachers from taking students outside—and what helps them do it. School leaders and policymakers could use these findings to design more realistic implementation strategies, potentially improving student wellbeing and engagement without adding to teacher workload. The project is a short-term, qualitative study; it will not test any intervention or measure student outcomes directly, but it will provide the groundwork for future practical trials.