All 15 secondary schools in the south London borough of Sutton are using VR headsets manufactured by the tech firm Phase Space in conjunction with the local NHS mental health trust.
Pupils are able to access the seven-minute-long Phase Space VR programme in either a pre-arranged slot or when they have to leave a lesson because they are beset by anxiety.
Zillah Watson, co-creator of the programme and former head of VR at the BBC, said: "Young people find that immersing themselves in VR, even for such a short period of time, helps them calm down, rebuild their confidence and feel ready to resume their studies."
Aelisha Needham, vice-principal for ethics at the Ark Academy secondary school in north London, which is also using the headsets, said they were helping pupils with social, emotional or mental health problems.
She explained: "We mostly use it in the mornings. We have students who in the mornings feel quite deregulated, especially when we have changes to their usual structures … [such as] a cover teacher, or it might be that they have felt a little bit distressed from something at home, or they maybe haven’t had breakfast, or they’re having friendship issues or haven’t done their homework.
"Students are a lot calmer. We’re seeing a reduction in things like relocations from lessons where students are being asked to leave because they’re deregulated."
Nine out of 10 pupils who used the VR headsets in the first 10 schools saw an immediate reduction in stress, with the programme leading to "improvements in pupil attendance (and) behaviour and reductions in anxiety related to exams and assessments evident".
Pupil Lora Wilson, 16, described how Phase Space helps reduce feelings of anxiety.
She said: "You start in a room and it hasn’t got anything in it and the light in the room slowly fades and then you’re almost transported back into black but with light and it’s coming towards you.
"It’s very difficult to explain but it’s a really cool experience. It almost feels like I’m somewhere else and I can just relax."
Wilson added: "Exams terrified me. They don’t scare me as much any more. It was the most terrifying thing ever. And when I felt that way I would use the headset and it would help me process how I was feeling about it."
