Growing Up in the 2020s - National Study

Aims of the study

Growing Up in the 2020s aims to better understand how a young person’s environment and experiences during adolescence (the secondary school years) impact their short- and long-term education and wellbeing outcomes.

By following the same group of young people and their families for several years, the study aims to understand how young people's school life, home life and relationships shape their future education and development.

The study will also provide insights into the important transition period from education to employment or other post-16 routes, allowing researchers to track young people’s trajectories from adolescence into young adulthood.

We will also collect information from young people’s teachers to form a more detailed picture of what life is like for young people, in school as well as at home.

Who is conducting the study?

The Department for Education (DfE) has commissioned Anna Freud, UCL and Ipsos to collect data for Growing Up in the 2020s. Anna Freud manages the project, develops the survey questions and analyses the data to create research reports.

UCL works with Anna Freud to develop survey questions and support the analysis of research data. Ipsos is responsible for collecting data from families and school staff for this study.

Who has approved this study?

This study has been approved by UCL Research Ethics Committee - reference no. 28343/001.

Key features of the study

What do we want to find out?

We want to find out what growing up in the 2020s is like. That includes young people’s experiences at school and at home, as well as their experiences of the areas they live in.

We will ask young people about:

• activities (e.g., extracurricular activities, exercise and social media use)

• school (e.g., school engagement, test anxiety and academic aspirations)

• health and wellbeing (e.g., subjective wellbeing, accessing mental health support and health behaviours)

• friendships and bullying

• time spent online

• family context

• substance use

• characteristics such as their gender and ethnicity, and whether they have SEND and caring responsibilities

• preparing for the future (e.g., ambitions and aspirations, hopefulness, post-16 destinations)

• we will also carry out reasoning and executive functioning (thinking) activities with young people.

We will ask parents and carers about:

• school (e.g., their involvement in school and their child’s academic aspirations)

• health and wellbeing (including mental health and wellbeing)

• family context

• characteristics such as their gender and ethnicity

• employment

We will ask teachers about:

• young people’s school engagement and attainment

• young people’s mental health and wellbeing

• young people’s post-16 destinations

Participants

Who are our participants?

We have selected a group of young people in England who are in Year 8 in the 2024/25 academic year. These young people are representative of young people in their age group and will help us understand what it’s like to grow up in England in the 2020s.

We will also be asking parents or carers of these young people and a nominated teacher to participate in the study.

By engaging with schools, we will gain a better understanding of young people’s educational environment and engagement in school.

How were young people chosen for this study?

Most young people have been identified through the National Pupil Database which holds details of all pupils in English state education.

Can I offer to be a participant?

We are not able to accept volunteers at this time.

I am already a participant in this study

If you are a young person, parent/carer or teacher participating in this study, please see here for more information.

Methodology

What does being part of the study involve?

There will be four waves of data collection. This will be when young people participating in the study are in Years 8, 9, 11 and 12.

Data linkage

We will combine information young people provide in the survey with information already held by DfE to build a more rounded picture of families’ lives. For parents and carers, we will also ask their permission to add information about them held by public bodies outside DfE, including the NHS. This will make the study even more valuable without taking up more of young people’s, parents’ and carers’ time.

What happens to the information that participants provide?

All information provided will be treated in the strictest confidence in accordance with UK data protection legislation. The data is collected and used for research purposes only.