New study to investigate augmented reality as an intervention for emotionally based school avoidance

A UWE Bristol researcher will support a new study exploring whether an augmented reality board game can help young people with emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA).

Dr Craig Johnston and health tech company Play Well For Life have received a £230,000 grant from Innovate UK to collaborate on an investigation into the effectiveness of the game in helping people with EBSA reintegrate into group education settings.

The game, Dragons of Afterlands, is a tool to improve adolescent socioemotional skills and wellbeing. The tool has been identified as an innovative way to build peer support opportunities, ultimately leading to faster reintegration to in-person and group learning.

With positive outcomes already evidenced in mainstream education settings, this study will see the game played among young people in hospital education services and alternative provisions. These two settings increasingly support young people who experience EBSA and/or are at risk of exclusion.

Co-produced with young people, clinical psychologists and educators, Dragons of Afterlands offers in-person, remote or hybrid play options.

Dr Johnston, a senior lecturer in criminology, will assess the impact of the game on young people by looking at indicators of engagement and inclusion as well as improved relationships between adolescents, their peers, and staff.

He said: “I’m thrilled to receive this research grant and to work with Play Well For Life. This substantial grant will enable further research into augmented reality as tools to utilise with children and adolescents at risk of exclusion, in its various forms, and to evaluate its impact on fostering positive social interactions and promoting more inclusive and enjoyable learning environments.”

Dr Johnston, an academic in the School of Social Sciences, added: “UWE Bristol’s role in the project will be to assess whether, and how, using augmented reality tools improves impairments resulting from anxiety and distress and the impact it may have on enabling re-engagement with education and peers.

“The overall aim of this project is to assess tools that are appropriate for inclusive practices relating to EBSA, and to evaluate augmented reality solutions’ broader adoption within alternative provision and healthcare education settings.”

Claire Koenig, Chief Operating Officer for Play Well For Life, said: “We are thrilled to be collaborating with Dr Craig Johnston from UWE Bristol on this project to explore how Dragons of Afterlands can support young people experiencing EBSA to re-engage, connect, and thrive. His considerable experience working in, and conducting research with, Alternative Provision settings will bring invaluable insight to this work.”

The project, which will run until September 2026, is one of 17 to have received funding totalling £3.6 million from Innovate UK’s Mindset extended reality (XR) for digital mental health programme.

The funded projects are part of a targeted investment to unlock the transformative power of XR technologies, including creative, VR, augmented reality, mixed reality, haptics – technology that stimulates the senses of touch and motion – and immersive software and audio. Projects are looking to address a wide range of clinically recognised conditions that affect education, employment, and quality of life including addiction recovery, ADHD, autism, anxiety, depression, occupational stress, PTSD and more.