Research and analysis

Votes at 16 research: Executive summary

Published 24 September 2026

1.1. The UK government committed, as part of its 2024 General Election manifesto, to extend the right to vote to all 16- and 17-year-olds for all UK elections. This commitment will be implemented via the Representation of the People Bill, which was introduced to Parliament on 12 February 2026. Votes at 16 sits alongside broader government objectives to promote sustained participation in electoral processes and strengthen democratic resilience.

1.2. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) sought to establish a baseline understanding of young people’s knowledge of, and attitudes towards, the political and electoral system in order to support the design and delivery of the government’s commitments on elections and voting.

1.3. To achieve this aim, a research project was commissioned by MHCLG and undertaken by Deltapoll using both quantitative and qualitative methods to speak to those aged 14 to 17. A total of 32 focus groups were conducted over two stages, followed by a nationally-representative survey of over 3,500 respondents, utilising both online and offline data collection.

1.4. This report brings together the findings from the research project, covering five specific research topics.

Understanding and knowledge of elections

1.5. This research topic looked at young people’s knowledge and understanding of various aspects of elections. This included voter registration, the voting process, voter identification requirements and broader understanding of how government operates in the United Kingdom.

1.6. In all four nations of the United Kingdom, awareness that individuals must apply to register to vote was relatively widespread. However, the focus groups suggested that the nature of this awareness was more nuanced, with participants frequently demonstrating uncertainty about what registration involves, and with some not making a distinction between voter registration and the act of voting itself.

1.7. The knowledge that survey respondents had of the voting process itself was statistically significantly stronger than awareness that individuals must apply to register to vote, with large majorities aware that voting can take place in person at a polling station. Young people in the focus groups shared experiences of times they had encountered polling stations, such as school closures on election days. Awareness of alternative voting methods was more limited, however, with postal voting understood by some participants, though some incorrectly assumed that online voting was available.

1.8. The awareness of voter identification requirements on polling day amongst survey respondents was also relatively high and focus group participants broadly regarded voter identification as a necessary safeguard against fraud. Even though some young people did not have a detailed understanding of exactly how the policy works in practice, the principle of identity verification was widely understood and supported.

1.9. When it comes to government more generally, a majority of survey respondents reported some understanding of how government works in the UK. Evidence from focus groups, however, suggested that the confidence that participants had in how the government works in the UK was often not backed up by a detailed knowledge of that subject.

Attitudes towards politics, democracy and elections

1.10. This research topic looked at the attitudes of respondents towards democracy, their levels of political interest, trust in political institutions and elections and their engagement with electoral processes.

1.11. Participants were separately tested on their interest in politics and elections. When it came to interest in politics, survey respondents were asked about their interest in politics across the world, in the UK and in their local area. Respondents in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland were also asked about their interest in politics in their own nation. Views were mixed, with many respondents either interested in a range of areas or none of the areas tested. Across all four nations of the United Kingdom, interest in one area tested then strongly correlated with interest in others (such as an interest in UK and world politics) and also correlated with the likelihood of future voting. Similarly, many respondents were either interested in a range of different types of elections or none of the types tested.

1.12. Among focus group participants, trust in politicians was generally low. Participants frequently described politicians’ behaviour as performative or insufficiently responsive to young people’s concerns. In contrast, trust in elections was comparatively robust among survey respondents and, for some participants, Votes at 16 was seen as a change that could potentially mean politicians hear and respond to younger voters.

Sources of information and education

1.13. This topic looked at where respondents obtained political information and how they evaluated its reliability. It also looked at the role of schools, families and social media in shaping political knowledge.

1.14. Respondents across all four nations of the United Kingdom said the three most common sources of information relating to politics and current affairs were parents or adults at home, television and social media. For survey respondents, family discussion of politics occurred more frequently than discussions among friends, although even within families, political conversations were not routine.

1.15. Social media emerged as a frequent source of political information for survey respondents. Focus group participants often reported encountering political content through algorithm-driven feeds, rather than actively seeking it out. Among survey respondents, TikTok and YouTube were the platforms where political content was most frequently seen. However, many focus group participants expressed scepticism regarding accuracy and bias, with many participants describing the need to cross-check information against mainstream news sources.

1.16. Survey respondents were asked about their awareness of the Electoral Commission, the independent body which oversees elections in the UK. Awareness was not particularly high among respondents from all four nations of the UK.

1.17. The education system was identified as a common but inconsistent source of political knowledge. Strong majorities of survey respondents across all four nations of the UK believed that schools should teach more about voting and elections. Similar proportions supported increased teaching about politics more broadly. However, fewer than half of the survey respondents reported they had been given some support from their school or college to help them feel ready to vote.

1.18. Focus group participants reinforced this conclusion, frequently describing political education as sporadic, limited or dependent on individual teachers. Schools were nonetheless viewed as trusted and appropriate environments for delivering impartial political education.

Barriers and enablers to participation

1.19. This topic looked at the factors influencing political participation among young people including communication habits, attitudes towards voting at 16 and levels of engagement in political or civic activity.

1.20. Attitudes towards voting at 16 varied by nation and existing electoral arrangements but were broadly positive across all four nations of the United Kingdom. In England, more than half of survey respondents believed that being able to vote at 16 would make them feel that their voice matters more, compared with a third who believed it would not. In Northern Ireland, opinion was more evenly divided. In Wales and Scotland, where voting at 16 already applies in some elections, more than two thirds of survey respondents believed extending the franchise further would increase their sense of influence.

1.21. Focus group participants revealed ambivalence underpinning these results, however. Many individual participants supported the principle of earlier voting rights, but they also expressed concern about levels of political knowledge among their peers. There was some optimism about increased political influence, but there was also some uncertainty over both how ready they and others were to vote, and susceptibility to external influences.

1.22. Participation of survey respondents in wider political activities was generally limited. The most common activity was participation in school debates or mock elections, selected by around one third of respondents. Engagement with campaigning or activism was rare and typically issue-specific rather than sustained.

Identification and document ownership

1.23. This topic looked at patterns of identification ownership among young people and considered implications for participation in elections requiring voter identification.

1.24. The survey gathered information about ownership of a wide range of forms of identification.

1.25. The overwhelming majority of survey respondents in Great Britain possessed at least one form of currently accepted identification or a physical bank card. Testing of bank card ownership was undertaken to inform the legislation recently brought forward by the government to amend the accepted ID list to include bank cards. In England, 92% of survey respondents aged both 14 to 15 and 16 to 17 had at least one of the forms of ID from the accepted list tested or a physical bank card. In Wales those numbers were 89% and 93% respectively. In Scotland, 98% of respondents aged 14 to 15 and 97% of respondents aged 16 to 17 had at least one of the forms of ID from the accepted list tested or a physical bank card. This is due, in large part, to the widespread ownership of the Young Scot PASS card which is not available in England, Wales or Northern Ireland.

1.26. In Northern Ireland there is a different list of accepted IDs. The survey reflected that this list has fewer available types of accepted ID. 76% of respondents aged 14 to 15 and 78% of those aged 16 to 17 in Northern Ireland had an ID from the accepted list.

1.27. Across all four nations of the UK and across all age groups, passports were among the forms of photo ID most likely to be held by respondents. Focus group participants, however, indicated a reluctance to carry passports routinely, with participants expressing a preference for smaller or less valuable forms of identification, including when presenting photo ID to vote.

1.28. Among survey respondents, awareness of alternative forms of ID for voting such as Voter Authority Certificates and particularly Electoral Identity Cards was more limited. As those aged under 18 are not currently eligible to vote in any elections in either England or Northern Ireland, and voter identification is not required for those devolved or local elections in which young people can currently vote in Wales and Scotland, it is therefore perhaps unsurprising that awareness of this election-focussed form of ID was not found to be high.