#BeeWell surveys report boost in young people’s wellbeing
Now in its fifth year, we look at 2025’s headline findings from #BeeWell, a project co-founded by Anna Freud.
Young people’s wellbeing is improving, according to the latest surveys from #BeeWell.
Tens of thousands of young people across England took part in #BeeWell’s annual survey in 2025. Now in its fifth year, the project offers vital insights for schools, local authorities and communities to help build the wellbeing of children and young people.
The programme is a collaboration between The University of Manchester, The Gregson Family Foundation, and Anna Freud, who, together with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), launched the programme in 2019. In 2023 #BeeWell expanded into Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton (HIPs).
Below, we explore this year’s results from Greater Manchester and HIPs.
Greater Manchester
The results from Greater Manchester have revealed a boost in wellbeing among young people across the region. For example, findings from pupils in years 7, 8 and 10 show that more young people now report good levels of wellbeing than in previous years, continuing a positive trend that has developed steadily over the past five years of the programme. In 2025, 59.1% of Year 10 pupils reported good levels of wellbeing, up from 55.1% in 2024. Among younger pupils the trend is similar, with 67.7% of Year 7 pupils reporting good wellbeing compared with 64.2% last year.
The survey also shows that loneliness among young people has begun to fall since the early years of the programme, when more than half of Year 10 pupils said they felt lonely at least occasionally. In 2025, that figure dropped to around four in ten (37.9%) young people. On the other hand, only around half (54.6%) of young people say there are people in their local area they can trust, and just over half (56.3%) say they have an adult outside their home or school who listens to them.
Relationships within schools are also an important theme in the data. The number of young people who say they feel they belong at school has risen slightly over the past year (51.0% for Year 10’s in 2024 to 55.6% of Year 10’s in 2025), while the survey data also suggests that positive relationships with teachers and staff are closely linked to whether young people feel they belong at school and attend regularly. Just under a third (31.6%) of Year 7 pupils report having strong relationships with staff at school, but this falls as young people get older, dropping to around one in five (21.1%) by Year 10.
The survey also highlights that young people’s wellbeing continues to vary substantially depending on gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, special educational needs or disabilities (SEND), and age. These factors shape how young people experience school and relationships, their health and access to support, and importantly, whether they feel their voices are heard.
Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton (HIPs)
Compared to previous years, findings from the HIPs region also show positive improvements across several areas, including higher life satisfaction, improved psychological wellbeing and reductions in emotional difficulties (17.3% to 15.5%) among Year 10 students.
The programme is in its third year locally and, for the first time, was expanded to gather insights from pupils in Year 7, as well as those in Year 10.
In spite of the positive findings, a key theme emerging from the data is that many young people, particularly those in Year 10 (49%), do not feel listened to within school settings. This pattern has implications for mental health, school engagement and trust in support systems.
As in Greater Manchester, results from HIPs also show that young people’s wellbeing continues to vary substantially depending on different demographic factors. In particular, trans young people, students with SEND, and those eligible for free school meals report lower wellbeing and greater barriers to feeling safe, supported and included.
However, as the findings show young people have very low levels of awareness of mental health and wellbeing services across all the area, improving awareness presents a really valuable opportunity.
Our take on the findings
Professor Jess Deighton, Director of Research at Anna Freud, said:
“It’s really encouraging to see that young people’s wellbeing is steadily improving in the regions taking part in the #BeeWell programme. While we don’t know to what extent this shift relates to action taken locally in response to the survey, the results certainly help to underscore the importance of listening to children and young people and investing to meet their needs.
“However, inequalities remain and the data shows that factors like gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic situation and having special educational needs or disabilities still significantly impact wellbeing.
“At Anna Freud, we want a future where every young person receives the right support at the right time. We hope to see schools, services and communities continue to draw on this powerful source of data - which completely centres young voices - to build the wellbeing of all young people, no matter their background.”
Read #BeeWell’s 2025/26 headline findings reports from Greater Manchester and HIPs.