Parent, pupil and learner voice: May 2025
Updated 29 September 2025
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2025
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/parent-pupil-and-learner-voice-omnibus-surveys-for-2024-to-2025/parent-pupil-and-learner-voice-may-2025
Introduction
The Department for Education (DfE) commissioned Verian (formerly known as Kantar Public) to recruit and maintain a panel of Parents, Pupils and Learners in England, known as the Parent, Pupil and Learner Voice (PPLV). The PPLV is designed to collect robust evidence to help DfE understand the perspectives of parents, carers, pupils and learners. This allows us to make more effective policy.
The PPLV works as a series of short surveys across the academic year, covering a range of new and longstanding policy issues. This report is about the findings from the May 2025 survey wave of the PPLV.
Methodology
The PPLV survey is answered by secondary school pupils (years 7 to 13), learners in further education (years 12 and 13) and parents of primary, secondary and special school pupils (years 1 to 11) who have agreed to participate in short, regular research surveys on topical education issues. We select parents and pupils randomly using records from the National Pupil Database (NPD) and invite them to take part in an online survey. For the first survey of the academic year, we send invitation letters to households. For other surveys in that same academic year, we send the invitation by email and text message to the parents and pupils who agreed to join the panel in the first survey.
Midway through the academic year, we randomly select pupils and learners in years 12 and 13 and invite them to join the panel in the same way. We select learners (those studying in a college setting) from the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) and we select pupils (those studying in a school setting) from the NPD. In this report, pupils in years 12 and 13 are referred to as “16 to 19 pupils and learners”, or in charts as “16-19”.
We ran a survey between 21 May 2025 and 13 June 2025. The respondents were:
| Audience | Responses |
|---|---|
| Primary school parents | 1,138 |
| Secondary school parents | 1,694 |
| Special school parents | 591 |
| Post-16 school pupils | 1,015 |
| Secondary school pupils | 2,592 |
Questions with fewer than 30 responses (before weighting) are not included in this report, and base sizes of below 100 should be treated with caution. Complete findings can be found in the published data tables, which include more detail on how different groups answered each question.
The report makes some comparisons to previous surveys conducted in previous academic years, for example the Parent, pupil and learner panel omnibus surveys for 2023 to 2024. These comparisons are helpful to understand how trends may be changing. However, the survey methodology changes over time and so comparisons to previous years are not as reliable as survey findings within each academic year. We introduced parents of pupils attending special schools in the 2023 to 2024 academic year, so any comparisons from previous academic years do not include these audiences.
In this report, we round figures to the nearest whole number. We do not describe 0% and 100% as ‘none’ and ‘all’ because figure rounding may mean this is not accurate. For instance, 100% may be 99.6% of respondents, rounded to the nearest whole number. Unless otherwise stated, when we refer to the ‘average’, we are reporting the arithmetic mean.
Further information on the survey methodology is available in the accompanying technical report.
Topics covered in this survey
The survey included questions about:
- green job awareness
- democracy education
- identification of special education needs
- pupil knowledge and confidence to manage mental health
- wellbeing
- bullying
- attendance
- belonging
- behaviour
- impacts of misbehaviour
Green job awareness
The Office for National Statistics defines a green job as: “employment in an activity that contributes to protecting or restoring the environment, including those that mitigate or adapt to climate change”. For example, being an ecologist, installing solar panels or working in recycling are all green jobs. We asked pupils if they were aware of these types of job opportunities available when they leave education, and we asked secondary and special school parents if they thought their child was aware of these types of opportunities.
Figure 1: Parent and pupil awareness of green job opportunities
| Audience | Yes - I or my child knows a lot about them | Yes - I or my child know a little about them | Yes - I or my child has only heard of them | No - I or my child has never heard of them | Don’t know | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils | 11% | 33% | 20% | 28% | 8% | 100% |
| Parents | 9% | 29% | 18% | 26% | 17% | 100% |
Base: Pupils and learners. (n = 3607). Secondary and special school parents. (n = 2285). Data table reference = “greenjobs_awareness”.
A majority of pupils (64%) and parents (56%) said that they had at least heard of green job opportunities. This is a higher proportion than when we last asked this question in May 2024, when 47% of pupils and 33% of parents had at least heard of these opportunities.
Democracy education
We asked parents if they had spoken to their child about topics related to politics in the previous 12 months.
Figure 2: Topics related to democracy or politics that parents had talked to their child about in the last 12 months
| Response | Primary | Secondary | Special |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elections | 27% | 44% | 12% |
| Voting | 31% | 40% | 11% |
| Political parties | 19% | 38% | 12% |
| Politicians or MPs | 24% | 35% | 13% |
| How to evaluate which online sources of information related to politics to trust | 5% | 14% | 4% |
| Not discussed any democracy or politics topics | 50% | 35% | 74% |
| Other | 3% | 5% | 2% |
| Don’t know | 4% | 5% | 4% |
Base: All parents. (n = 3423). Data table reference = “democracy_12months”.
We asked parents who said they had spoken to their child about topics related to politics or democracy how often they had spoken to their child about these topics in the previous 12 months.
Figure 3: How often parents have spoken to their child about topics related to democracy or politics in the last 12 months
| Phase | Every day or several times a week | Around once a week | Around once a month | A couple of times a year | Don’t know | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary | 2% | 16% | 29% | 47% | 6% | 100% |
| Secondary | 12% | 23% | 28% | 34% | 4% | 100% |
| Special | 10% | 17% | 19% | 41% | 13% | 100% |
Base: Parents who have spoken to their child about democracy or politics within the last 12 months. (n = 1444). Data table reference = “democracy_howoften”.
Identification of special education needs
We asked parents of primary and secondary school pupils how confident they are that their child’s school would listen to any concerns they had about a potential special educational need affecting their child’s learning or development.
Figure 4: Parent confidence that their child’s school would listen to any concerns they had about a potential special educational need affecting their child’s learning or development
| Phase | Very confident | Fairly confident | Not very confident | Not all confident | Don’t know | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary | 40% | 40% | 11% | 5% | 4% | 100% |
| Secondary | 24% | 48% | 14% | 6% | 8% | 100% |
Base: Primary and secondary school parents. (n = 2832). Data table reference = “senidentification_listen”.
We also asked them how confident they are that their child’s school could identify a potential special educational need with their child.
Figure 5: Parent confidence that their child’s school could identify a potential special educational need with their child
| Phase | Very confident | Fairly confident | Not very confident | Not all confident | Don’t know | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary | 30% | 42% | 15% | 6% | 7% | 100% |
| Secondary | 17% | 42% | 20% | 9% | 12% | 100% |
Base: Primary and secondary school parents. (n = 2832). Data table reference = “senidentification_identify”.
We also asked them if they were aware of their child’s school’s processes and policies for identifying and supporting pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Figure 6: Parent awareness of their child’s school’s processes and policies for identifying and supporting pupils with SEND
| Phase | Yes - I know a lot about them | Yes - I know a little about them | Yes - but I have only heard of them | No - I have never heard of them | Don’t know | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary | 20% | 38% | 20% | 13% | 8% | 100% |
| Secondary | 13% | 32% | 24% | 19% | 12% | 100% |
Base: Primary and secondary school parents. (n = 2832). Data table reference = “senidentification_aware”.
Pupil knowledge and confidence to manage mental health
We asked secondary school pupils and all parents if they were aware of any mental health and wellbeing support available through their or their child’s school or college. The majority of pupils and learners (78%) and parents (61%) said they were aware.
A similar proportion of pupils said they were aware of mental health and wellbeing support available when we last asked this question in September 2024 (80%), when only pupils were asked, and in June 2023 (77%), when both pupils and learners were asked. A higher proportion of parents were aware than when we last asked in September 2024 (52%) and in June 2023 (49%).
We asked those who said they were aware of this support if they or their child had made use of the support. A minority of pupils and learners (26%) and parents (34%) said they or their child had. A similar proportion of pupils (29%) and parents (31%) said they or their child had made use of this support than when we last asked in September 2024. A higher proportion of pupils (32%) and a similar proportion of parents (35%) said the same when we asked in June 2023.
We asked pupils and learners who said they had used mental health and wellbeing support the extent they agreed or disagreed that the support provided had been helpful.
Figure 7: Extent pupils agree or disagree that support provided for mental health and wellbeing is helpful
| Audience | Strongly agree | Agree | Neither agree nor disagree | Disagree | Strongly disagree | Don’t know | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils | 20% | 39% | 28% | 6% | 3% | 4% | 100% |
Base: Pupils and learners in years 7 to 13 who had used mental health and wellbeing support available through their school or college. (n = 933). Data table reference = “wellbeingsupport_mh_helpfulused”.
A majority of pupils said they strongly agreed or agreed that the support provided by their school or college was useful (59%), which was a similar proportion to when we last asked this question in September 2024 (62%).
We asked parents who said that they were aware of mental health and wellbeing support available through their child’s school the extent they agreed or disagreed that the support provided is helpful.
Figure 8: Extent parents agree or disagree that support provided for mental health and wellbeing at their child’s school is helpful
| Audience | Strongly agree | Agree | Neither agree nor disagree | Disagree | Strongly disagree | Don’t know | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parents | 34% | 44% | 15% | 2% | 1% | 4% | 100% |
Base: Parents who said they were aware of mental health and wellbeing support available through their child’s school. (n = 2156). Data table reference = “wellbeingsupport_support”.
A majority of parents strongly agreed or agreed that the support provided by their child’s school or college was helpful (77%), a similar proportion to when we last asked them this question in September 2024 (79%).
We asked all pupils and learners how comfortable, if at all, they would feel about speaking to adults in their school about their mental health.
Figure 9: Pupil comfort in speaking to adults at their school about their mental health
| Audience | Very comfortable | Fairly comfortable | Not very comfortable | Not at all comfortable | Don’t know | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils | 11% | 38% | 30% | 15% | 6% | 100% |
Base: All pupils and learners. (n = 3607). Data table reference = “wellbeingsupport_comfortable”.
Around half of pupils said that they would feel very or fairly comfortable speaking to adults in their school or college about their mental health (48%), a lower proportion to when we last asked them this question in September 2024 (57%).
We also asked pupils the extent they agreed or disagreed that they know how to look after their mental health and that their school or college teaches them to look after their mental health.
Figure 10: Extent pupils agree or disagree with statements about managing and being taught about mental health
| Statement | Strongly agree | Agree | Neither agree nor disagree | Disagree | Strongly disagree | Don’t know | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I know how to look after my mental health | 22% | 46% | 22% | 5% | 1% | 4% | 100% |
| My school or college teaches me about how to look after my mental health | 16% | 38% | 27% | 10% | 5% | 4% | 100% |
Base: All pupils and learners. (n = 3607). Data table reference = “wellbeingsupport_mh_know”, “wellbeingsupport_mh_teach”.
A majority of pupils and learners agreed or strongly agreed that they knew enough to look after their mental health (67%), a similar proportion to when we last asked them this question in September 2024 (70%).
A majority of of pupils and learners strongly agreed or agreed that their school or college teaches them how to look after their mental health (55%), a lower proportion to when we last asked this question in September 2024 (67%).
We asked all parents the extent they agreed or disagreed that they feel confident that they can look after their child’s mental health, and that there are staff in their child’s school that they would feel comfortable speaking to about their child’s mental health.
Figure 11: Extent parents agree or disagree with statements about managing speaking to their child about mental health
| Statement | Strongly agree | Agree | Neither agree nor disagree | Disagree | Strongly disagree | Don’t know | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I feel confident I can look after my child’s mental health | 38% | 45% | 12% | 3% | 0% | 1% | 100% |
| There are staff in my child’s school I would feel comfortable speaking to about my child’s mental health | 36% | 42% | 13% | 4% | 2% | 4% | 100% |
Base: All parents. (n = 3423). Data table reference = “wellbeingsupport_confident”, “wellbeingsupport_staff”.
A majority of parents strongly agreed or agreed that they feel confident that they can look after their child’s mental health (83%), a similar proportion to when we last asked them in September 2024 (84%).
The majority of parents strongly agreed or agreed that they felt confident in looking after their child’s mental health (83%), a similar proportion to when we last asked in September 2024 (84%).
Wellbeing
We asked pupils a series of questions about personal wellbeing validated by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). These questions are known as the ‘ONS4’ personal wellbeing measures and are answered using a scale from 0 to 10. For happiness, life satisfaction and sense of things you do in life being worthwhile, a higher score is indicative of better personal wellbeing. For anxiety, a lower score is indicative of better personal wellbeing.
Across this academic year and previous academic years, the average scores for year 7 to 11 pupils’ wellbeing measures were:
| Wave | Happiness | Worthwhile | Life satisfaction | Anxiety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-05 | 7.2 | 7.2 | 7.3 | 3.7 |
| 2025-03 | 7.1 | 4.0 | ||
| 2025-02 | 7.2 | 7.1 | 7.1 | 3.6 |
| 2024-09 | 7.1 | 7.4 | 7.3 | 3.2 |
| 2024-05 | 6.5 | 6.9 | 6.9 | 4.2 |
| 2024-03 | 6.6 | 6.8 | 6.7 | 4.2 |
| 2023-12 | 7 | 7.2 | 7.1 | 3.3 |
Base: All pupils in years 7 to 11 (n = 2592).Bases refer to most recent data: refer to previous reports for base sizes at each data point. Only life satisfaction and anxiety questions were asked in March 2025. Data table references = “wellbeing_anxious”; “wellbeing_happy”; “wellbeing_worthwhile”; “wellbeing_satisfied”.
Across this academic year and previous academic years, the average scores for 16 to 19 pupils and learners wellbeing measures were:
| Wave | Happiness | Worthwhile | Life satisfaction | Anxiety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-05 | 6.4 | 6.4 | 6.2 | 4.6 |
| 2025-03 | 6.6 | 6.6 | 6.2 | 4.2 |
| 2024-05 | 6.1 | 6.3 | 6.0 | 5.0 |
| 2024-03 | 6.0 | 6.1 | 5.8 | 4.7 |
Base: All 16 to 19 pupils and learners (n = 1015).Bases refer to most recent data: refer to previous reports for base sizes at each data point. Data table references = “wellbeing_anxious”; “wellbeing_happy”; “wellbeing_worthwhile”; “wellbeing_satisfied”.
We also asked parents a subset of these questions, referring to their child’s personal wellbeing. Across this academic year and the previous academic years, the average scores for parents’ views on their child’s personal wellbeing were:
| Wave | Happiness | Anxiety |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-05 | 8.2 | 2.6 |
| 2025-03 | 7.8 | 2.8 |
| 2024-09 | 8.2 | 2.5 |
| 2024-05 | 7.9 | 2.8 |
| 2024-03 | 7.9 | 2.7 |
| 2023-12 | 8.2 | 2.4 |
Base: All parents (n = 3423). Bases refer to most recent data: refer to previous reports for base sizes at each data point.Data table references = “wellbeing_anxious”, “wellbeing_happy”.
We also asked pupils how often they felt lonely.
Figure 12: How often pupils feel lonely
| Audience | Hardly ever or never | Some of the time | Often | Prefer not to say | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils | 41% | 39% | 17% | 3% | 100% |
Base: All pupils and learners (n = 3607). Data table reference = “wellbeing_lonely”.
The percentage of pupils who said they often felt lonely was similar when we last asked this question in March 2025 (21%) and when we asked at the same time the previous year in May 2024 (15%).
Bullying
We asked secondary school pupils and years 12 and 13 pupils at school sixth forms who consented to answering questions about bullying (96%) whether they had been a victim of any kind of bullying (cyber-bullying or in person) in the previous 12 months. Overall, 21% of pupils said they had. By key stage, 25% of key stage 3, 25% key stage 4 and 11% year 12 and 13 pupils at school sixth forms said they had been a victim of any kind of bullying in the last 12 months.
We also asked parents if their child had been a victim of any kind of bullying in the previous 12 months. Overall, 24% of parents said their child had been a victim of bullying. By school phase, 25% of primary, 24% of secondary and 21% of special school parents said their child had been a victim of any kind of bullying in the previous 12 months.
We asked parents and pupils who said they or their child had been a victim of bullying where this bullying occurred, with pupils and parents being able to select multiple options. A majority (87%) of pupils and parents (94%) said bullying had occurred in person. A minority of both pupils (29%) and parents (19%) said that the bullying had taken place online.
We asked pupils and parents of pupils who had been bullied in person why they or their child had experienced being bullied in person in the previous 12 months.
Figure 13: Reasons why pupils had been bullied in person in the previous 12 months
| Response | Pupils | Parents |
|---|---|---|
| The way they look | 44% | 34% |
| A disability or special educational need | 14% | 20% |
| Their sexual orientation | 10% | 3% |
| Their race or ethnicity | 9% | 9% |
| Their sex | 8% | 5% |
| Their nationality | 5% | 3% |
| Their religion or belief | 4% | 2% |
| I don’t know the reason | 24% | 24% |
| Other | 31% | 34% |
| Prefer not to say | 3% | 0% |
Base: Secondary school pupils and years 12 and 13 pupils at school sixth forms who had been bullied in person in the past 12 months. (n = 673). All parents who said their child had been a victim of in person bullying in the past 12 months. (n = 974). Data table reference = “bullying_inpersonreason”.
We asked pupils and parents of pupils who had been bullied online why they or their child had experienced being bullied online in the previous 12 months
Figure 14: Reasons why pupils had been bullied online in the previous 12 months
| Response | Pupils | Parents |
|---|---|---|
| The way they look | 37% | 41% |
| A disability or special educational need | 12% | 24% |
| Their sexual orientation | 10% | 4% |
| Their sex | 8% | 10% |
| Their race or ethnicity | 8% | 4% |
| Their religion or belief | 5% | 2% |
| Their nationality | 4% | 3% |
| I don’t know the reason | 27% | 19% |
| Other | 28% | 39% |
| Prefer not to say | 5% | 2% |
Base: Secondary school pupils and years 12 and 13 pupils at school sixth forms who had been bullied online in the past 12 months. (n = 267). All parents who said their child has been a victim of online bullying in the past 12 months. (n = 279). Data table reference = “bullying_onlinereason”.
We asked pupils and parents how well they thought their or their child’s school acts to prevent bullying from taking place.
Figure 15: How well pupils and parents believe their school acts to prevent bullying form taking place
| Audience | Very well | Fairly well | Not very well | Not very well at all | Don’t know | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils | 20% | 43% | 21% | 8% | 7% | 100% |
| Parents | 23% | 43% | 11% | 4% | 19% | 100% |
Base: Secondary school pupils and years 12 and 13 pupils at school sixth forms who consented to answering questions about bullying. (n = 2885). All parents. (n = 3423). Data table reference = “bullying_prevent”.
We also asked them how well they thought their or their child’s school deals with incidents of bullying.
Figure 16: How well pupils and parents believe their or their child’s school deals with incidents of bullying
| Audience | Very well | Fairly well | Not very well | Not very well at all | Don’t know | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils | 21% | 42% | 20% | 8% | 10% | 100% |
| Parents | 22% | 38% | 12% | 5% | 23% | 100% |
Base: Secondary school pupils and years 12 and 13 pupils at school sixth forms who consented to answering questions about bullying. (n = 2885). All parents. (n = 3423). Data table reference = “bullying_handle”.
We asked parents if they had accessed or been sent any information on bullying by their child’s school since September 2024.
Figure 17: How parents have accessed or been sent information on bullying from their child’s school
| Response | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Via email | 24% |
| Via school newsletter | 22% |
| Via the school website | 21% |
| Via an app used by the school to communicate with parents | 11% |
| Via meetings with school staff | 6% |
| Via telephone or text | 5% |
| Via a written letter | 2% |
| Another way | 2% |
| The school has not provided any information on bullying | 30% |
| Don’t know | 18% |
Base: All parents. (n = 3423). Data table reference = “bullying_information”.
We asked parents who said they had been sent information on bullying from their child’s school how often they had been sent information on bullying.
Figure 18: How often parents have been sent information on bullying from their child’s school
| Audience | At least once a week | At least once a month | Once or twice during the term | Less often | Don’t know | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parents | 4% | 9% | 38% | 34% | 14% | 100% |
Base: All parents who have been sent information on bullying from their child’s school since September 2024. (n = 1489). Data table reference = “bullying_howoften”.
We also asked parents who had accessed or had been sent information on bullying from their child’s school since September 2024 how helpful they found the information they had accessed or been sent by their child’s school on bullying.
Figure 19: How helpful parents have found information on bullying from their child’s school
| Audience | Very helpful | Fairly helpful | Not very helpful | Not helpful at all | Don’t know | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parents | 17% | 55% | 12% | 3% | 12% | 100% |
Base: All parents who have accessed or been sent information on bullying from their child’s school since September 2024. (n = 1732). Data table reference = “bullying_helpful”.
Attendance
We asked pupils, learners how often they or their child had attended school in the past 2 weeks of term time.
Figure 20: How often pupils have attended school in the past 2 weeks of term
| Audience | Every weekday | Most weekdays | Some weekdays | Not at all | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Key stage 3 pupils | 79% | 16% | 3% | 2% | 100% |
| Key stage 4 pupils | 79% | 16% | 3% | 2% | 100% |
| 16 to 19 pupils and learners | 57% | 27% | 10% | 6% | 100% |
| Primary parents | 91% | 8% | 1% | 0% | 100% |
| Secondary parents | 83% | 12% | 3% | 2% | 100% |
| Special parents | 78% | 15% | 4% | 3% | 100% |
Base: All pupils and learners (n = 3607). All parents. (n = 3423). Data table reference = “attendance_pupils”.
Across previous academic years, the proportions of pupils and learners who said they had been to school every day or most days were:
| Wave | Key stage 3 pupils | Key stage 4 pupils | 16-19 pupils and learners |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-05 | 96% | 95% | 84% |
| 2025-03 | 95% | 93% | 92% |
| 2024-09 | 97% | 96% | - |
| 2024-03 | 95% | 95% | - |
| 2023-12 | 96% | 94% | - |
Base: All pupils and learners (n = 3607). Year 12 and 13 pupils and learners were not asked about their attendance in September 2024, March 2024 and December 2023. Bases refer to most recent data: refer to previous reports for base sizes at each data point. Data table reference = “attendance_pupils”.
Across previous academic years, the proportions of parents who said that their child had been to school every day or most days were:
| Wave | Primary parents | Secondary parents | Special parents |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-05 | 99% | 95% | 93% |
| 2024-09 | 98% | 96% | 91% |
| 2024-03 | 98% | 95% | 93% |
| 2023-12 | 99% | 95% | 91% |
Base: All parents. (n = 3423). Bases refer to most recent data: refer to previous reports for base sizes at each data point. Data table reference = “attendance_pupils”.
We asked pupils and learners who had not physically attended school every weekday in the past 2 weeks of term why this was.
Figure 21: Reasons reported by pupils and learners for not attending school in the past 2 weeks of term
| Response | Key stage 3 | Key stage 4 | 16-19 |
|---|---|---|---|
| I have been ill | 59% | 48% | 35% |
| I have been on exam or study leave | 0% | 29% | 33% |
| Anxiety or mental health problems | 22% | 30% | 22% |
| A neurodevelopmental condition, such as ADHD or autism | 12% | 8% | 5% |
| Cost of travel to school or college | 1% | 2% | 6% |
| I am being bullied at school or college | 5% | 3% | 1% |
| I have been suspended or permanently excluded from my school or college | 4% | 3% | 0% |
| I have been on holiday | 2% | 1% | 1% |
| Other reasons | 18% | 23% | 30% |
| Don’t know | 3% | 1% | 1% |
| Prefer not to say | 5% | 1% | 2% |
Base: Pupils and learners who had not physically attended school or college everyday in the past 2 weeks of term time (n = 1143). Data table reference = “attendance_whynot”.
We asked the pupils who said that they had not physically attended school due to anxiety or mental health problems what had contributed to this. The most common factors selected were worries about lessons and learning (43%), general worries about nothing in particular (42%) and worries about other pupils behaviour (29%).
We also asked parents whose child had not physically attended school every weekday in the previous 2 weeks why this was.
Figure 22: Reasons reported by parents for pupils not attending school in the past 2 weeks of term
| Response | Primary | Secondary | Special |
|---|---|---|---|
| They have been ill | 68% | 57% | 46% |
| Anxiety or mental health problems | 20% | 31% | 31% |
| A neurodevelopmental condition, such as ADHD or autism | 15% | 17% | 30% |
| They have been on holiday | 16% | 2% | 3% |
| They have been on exam or study leave | 0% | 8% | 3% |
| They are being bullied at school or college | 1% | 8% | 4% |
| They have been suspended or permanently excluded from my school or college | 0% | 5% | 4% |
| Cost of travel to school or college | 1% | 0% | 0% |
| Other reasons | 9% | 16% | 31% |
| Prefer not to say | 1% | 2% | 3% |
Base: All parents whose child has not physically attended school or college every weekday in the past 2 weeks of term time (n = 696). Data table reference = “attendance_whynot”.
We asked the parents who said that their child had not physically attended school due to anxiety or mental health problems what factors contributed to this. The most common factors selected were worries about other pupils behaviour (52%), worries about lessons and learning (50%) and general worries about nothing in particular (37%).
Belonging
We asked parents and pupils a series of questions about how they, or their child, felt about school over the previous week of term. Firstly, we asked how often they, or their child, had felt safe at school over the previous week of term.
Figure 23: How often pupils and parents felt they or their child felt safe at school over the previous week of term
| Audience | Every day | Most days | Some days | Never | Don’t know | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Key stage 3 pupils | 45% | 35% | 13% | 4% | 3% | 100% |
| Key stage 4 pupils | 44% | 31% | 18% | 4% | 2% | 100% |
| 16-19 pupils and learners | 60% | 29% | 8% | 1% | 1% | 100% |
| Primary parents | 73% | 21% | 5% | 0% | 1% | 100% |
| Secondary parents | 58% | 29% | 10% | 2% | 1% | 100% |
| Special parents | 58% | 25% | 10% | 3% | 5% | 100% |
Base: All pupils (n = ). Data table reference = “belonging_safe”. All parents (n = 3423). Data table reference = “behaviour_safe”.
The majority of key stage 3 (80%) and key stage 4 (75%) pupils said that they had felt safe at school every day or most days over the previous week of term, while 90% of 16 to 19 pupils and learners said the same.
When last asked, in March 2025, a similar proportion of key stage 3 (81%), key stage 4 pupils (80%) and 16 to 19 pupils and learners (95%) said that they had felt safe at school every day or most days over the previous week of term.
When we asked this question in May 2024, a lower proportion of key stage 3 (72%), key stage 4 (74%) and 16 to 19 pupils and learners (88%) said that they had felt safe at school every day or most days over the previous week of term.
The majority of primary parents (94%), secondary parents (87%) and special school parents (83%) said that their child had felt safe at school every day or most days over the previous week of term.
When last asked, in March 2025, a similar proportion of primary (91%), secondary (86%) and special school parents (80%) said that their child had felt safe at school every day or most days over the previous week of term.
When we asked this question in May 2024, a similar proportion of of primary (93%), secondary (85%) and special school (81%) said that their child had felt safe at school every day or most days over the previous week of term.
We also asked pupils and parents how often they or their child had enjoyed going to school over the previous week.
Figure 24: How often pupils and parents felt they or their child had enjoyed school over the previous week of term
| Audience | Every day | Most days | Some days | Never | Don’t know | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Key stage 3 pupils | 20% | 41% | 30% | 7% | 2% | 100% |
| Key stage 4 pupils | 17% | 37% | 35% | 10% | 0% | 100% |
| 16-19 learners | 18% | 46% | 31% | 5% | 0% | 100% |
| Primary parents | 46% | 40% | 13% | 2% | 0% | 100% |
| Secondary parents | 31% | 41% | 21% | 6% | 0% | 100% |
| Special parents | 45% | 34% | 15% | 5% | 2% | 100% |
Base: All pupils (n = 3067). Data table reference = “belonging_enjoy”. All parents (n = 3423). Data table reference = “belonging_enjoy”.
The majority of key stage 3 (61%), key stage 4 pupils (54%) and 16 to 19 pupils and learners (64%) said they had enjoyed going to school every day or most days over the previous week.
When last asked, in March 2025, a lower proportion of key stage 3 (38%), a higher proportion of key stage 4 pupils (58%) and a lower proportion of 16 to 19 pupils and learners (54%) said they had enjoyed going to school every day or most days over the previous week.
When we asked this question in May 2024, a lower proportion of key stage 3 (49%), key stage 4 (48%) and a higher proportion of 16 to 19 pupils and learners (54%) said that they had enjoyed going to school every day or most days over the previous week.
The majority of primary parents (85%), secondary parents (73%) and special school parents (79%) said their child had enjoyed going to school every day or most days over the previous week.
When last asked, in March 2025, a similar proportion of primary parents (84%), secondary parents (70%) and special school parents (78%) said their child had enjoyed going to school every day or most days over the previous week.
When we asked this question in May 2024, a similar proportion of of primary (83%) and special school parents (74%), and a lower proportion of special school parents (64%) said their child had enjoyed going to school every day or most days over the previous week.
Finally, we asked pupils how often they felt like they belonged at school over the past week.
Figure 25: How often pupils felt they belonged at school over the previous week of term
| Key stage | Every day | Most days | Some days | Never | Don’t know | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Key stage 3 | 38% | 34% | 20% | 5% | 3% | 100% |
| Key stage 4 | 31% | 33% | 27% | 7% | 2% | 100% |
| 16-19 | 30% | 40% | 23% | 6% | 1% | 100% |
Base: All pupils (n = 3067). Data table reference = “belonging_belong”.
The majority of key stage 3 (72%), key stage 4 (64%) and 16 to 19 pupils and learners (71%) said they felt they had belonged at school every day or most days over the past week.
When last asked, in March 2025, a similar proportion of key stage 3 (71%), key stage 4 pupils (64%) and a higher proportion of 16 to 19 pupils and learners (78%) said they felt they had belonged at school every day or most days over the past week.
When we asked this question in May 2024, a lower proportion of key stage 3 (58%), key stage 4 (55%) and 16 to 19 pupils and learners (66%) said they felt they had belonged at school every day or most days over the past week.
We also asked pupils a series of questions regarding how often they felt at school or college there was an adult who really cares about them, an adult who tells them when they have done a good job, an adult who listens to them when they have something to say and an adult who believes they will be a success. Pupils were asked to rate how often there was one of these adults on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 was ‘never’ and 5 was ‘always’.
Figure 26: How often pupils feel there are adults at their school or college who care about them, tell them when they have done a good job, listen to them and believe they will be a success
| Statement | 1 - Never | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 - Always | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| An adult who really cares about them | 5% | 11% | 27% | 30% | 27% | 100% |
| An adult who tells them when they have done a good job | 5% | 13% | 23% | 34% | 26% | 100% |
| An adult who listens to them when they have something to say | 4% | 10% | 24% | 31% | 31% | 100% |
| An adult who believes they will be a success | 4% | 9% | 23% | 29% | 35% | 100% |
Base: All pupils and learners (n = 3607). Data table reference = “belonging_care”, “belonging_praise”, “belonging_listen”, “belonging_success”.
Behaviour
We asked secondary school pupils and years 12 and 13 pupils at school sixth forms how much, if at all, they are motivated to learn.
Figure 27: How motivated pupils are to learn
| Key stage | Very motivated | Fairly motivated | Not very motivated | Not at all motivated | Don’t know | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Key stage 3 | 18% | 53% | 18% | 6% | 5% | 100% |
| Key stage 4 | 20% | 47% | 24% | 8% | 2% | 100% |
| Year 12 and 13 | 24% | 51% | 20% | 4% | 2% | 100% |
Base: All school pupils in years 7 to 13 (n = 3067). Data table reference = “motivation_learn”.
We asked pupils how they would rate the behaviour of pupils at their school over the previous week of term.
Figure 28: Pupil rating of behaviour over the previous week of term
| Key stage | Very good | Good | Neither good nor poor | Poor | Very poor | Prefer not to say | Don’t know | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Key stage 3 | 7% | 32% | 36% | 14% | 6% | 1% | 3% | 100% |
| Key stage 4 | 7% | 37% | 33% | 13% | 8% | 0% | 2% | 100% |
| Year 12 and 13 | 18% | 48% | 23% | 5% | 3% | 1% | 2% | 100% |
Base: All school pupils in years 7 to 13 (n = 3067). Data table reference = “behaviour_rating”.
A minority of key stage 3 (39%) and key stage 4 (44%) pupils rated behaviour as good or very good in the previous week of term, while 67% of 16 to 19 pupils and learners said the same.
When last asked, in March 2025, a higher proportion of key stage 3 (41%), a lower proportion of key stage 4 pupils (39%), and a similar proportion of 16 to 19 pupils and learners (66%) rated behaviour as good or very good.
In May 2024, a similar proportion of key stage 3 (38%), key stage 4 pupils (40%) and 16 to 19 pupils (64%) rated behaviour as good or very good.
We also asked pupils how often they thought their school had been calm and orderly over the previous week of term.
Figure 29: How often pupils thought their school was calm and orderly over the previous week of term
| Key stage | Every day | Most days | Some days | Never | Don’t know | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Key stage 3 | 12% | 42% | 35% | 9% | 3% | 100% |
| Key stage 4 | 11% | 45% | 33% | 10% | 1% | 100% |
| Year 12 and 13 | 24% | 50% | 21% | 3% | 1% | 100% |
Base: All school pupils in years 7 to 13 (n = 3067). Data table reference = “behaviour_calm”.
A majority of key stage 3 (53%) and key stage 4 (56%) pupils said that their school had been calm and orderly every day or most days in the previous week of term, while 74% of 16 to 19 pupils and learners said the same.
When last asked, in March 2025, a lower proportion of key stage 3 (44%), key stage 4 pupils (48%) and 16 to 19 pupils and learners (71%) said that their school had been calm and orderly every day or most days in the previous week of term.
In May 2024, a similar proportion of key stage 3 (54%), a lower proportion of key stage 4 pupils (52%) and 16 to 19 pupils (65%) said that their school had been calm and orderly every day or most days in the previous week of term.
Impacts of misbehaviour
We asked pupils how often misbehaviour of other pupils interrupted the lesson or stopped them doing their work in the previous week of term.
Figure 30: How often misbehaviour of other pupils stopped or interrupted lessons or prevented pupils from doing their work over the previous week of term
| Key stage | All lessons | Most lessons | Some lessons | Rarely | Never | Don’t know | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Key stage 3 | 6% | 22% | 40% | 24% | 5% | 3% | 100% |
| Key stage 4 | 6% | 22% | 36% | 28% | 6% | 2% | 100% |
| Year 12 and 13 | 3% | 3% | 21% | 41% | 31% | 1% | 100% |
Base: All school pupils in years 7 to 13 (n = 3067). Data table reference = “behaviour_misbehaviour”.
A majority of key stage 3 (68%) and key stage 4 (64%) pupils said that misbehaviour had interrupted all, most or some lessons in the previous week of term, while 27% of 16 to 19 pupils and learners said the same.
When last asked, in March 2025, similar proportion of key stage 3 (69%) and key stage 4 pupils (65%), and a higher proportion of 16 to 19 pupils and learners (34%), said that misbehaviour had interrupted all, most or some lessons in the previous week of term.
In May 2024, a higher proportion of key stage 3 (77%) key stage 4 pupils (73%) and 16 to 19 pupils (32%) said that misbehaviour had interrupted all, most or some lessons in the previous week of term.
For those who reported that misbehaviour of other pupils had stopped or interrupted the lesson or them doing their work, we asked how quickly their teachers were able to address this so learning could continue when this occurred.
Figure 31: How quickly pupils report that teachers address misbehaviour
| Key stage | Very quickly | Fairly quickly | Not very quickly | Not quickly at all | Not sure | Varies too much to say | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Key stage 3 | 14% | 56% | 17% | 4% | 4% | 5% | 100% |
| Key stage 4 | 11% | 56% | 20% | 6% | 3% | 4% | 100% |
| Year 12 and 13 | 25% | 58% | 9% | 4% | 1% | 3% | 100% |
Base: School pupils in years 7 to 13 who reported misbehaviour of other pupils which stopped or interrupted the lesson or them doing their work. (n = 2695). Data table reference = “behaviour_addressed”.
A majority of in key stage 3 pupils (70%), key stage 4 pupils (67%) and 16 to 19 pupils (83%) said misbehaviour had been addressed fairly or very quickly.
When we last asked this question in May 2024, a lower proportion of key stage 3 pupils (65%), a similar proportion of key stage 4 pupils (63%) and a lower proportion of 16 to 19 pupils (75%) said misbehaviour had been addressed fairly or very quickly.
We asked pupils how often their school’s rules are applied fairly to all pupils. We defined fairly as treating everyone in a way that is reasonable and appropriate to their circumstance.
Figure 32: How often pupils report school rules are applied fairly to all pupils
| Key stage | All of the time | Most of the time | Some of the time | Never | Don’t know | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Key stage 3 | 19% | 42% | 27% | 8% | 4% | 100% |
| Key stage 4 | 14% | 44% | 33% | 6% | 2% | 100% |
| Year 12 and 13 | 25% | 49% | 20% | 3% | 4% | 100% |
Base: All school pupils in years 7 to 13 (n = 3067). Data table reference = “behave_fair”.
A majority of in key stage 3 pupils (61%), key stage 4 pupils (58%) and 16 to 19 pupils (73%) said school rules are applied fairly all or most of the time.
When we last asked this question in April 2024, a similar proportion of key stage 3 pupils (59%), key stage 4 pupils (57%) and 16 to 19 pupils (70%) said school rules are applied fairly all or most of the time.
Glossary of terms
Individualised Learner Record (ILR): The primary data collection about further education and work-based learning in England. It is requested from learning providers in England’s further education system.
National Pupil Database (NPD): A register data set of all pupils in state schools in England, compiled by DfE. It contains attainment data as children progress through school, as well as information on pupil background, absences and exclusions from school.
Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND): A child or young person has SEND if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for them. A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if they have a:
- significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age
- disability that prevents or hinders them from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions
Some children and young people who have SEND may also have a disability under the Equality Act 2010 – that is ‘… a physical or mental impairment which has a long-term and substantial adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’. Where a disabled child or young person requires special educational provision, they will also be covered by the SEND definition.
Special schools: Schools that provide an education for children with a special educational need or disability. Almost all pupils in special schools have an education, health and care plan (EHCP), which are plans for children and young people aged up to 25 who need more support than is available through special educational needs support. EHC plans identify educational, health and social needs and set out the additional support to meet those needs.