Today the Department for Education published its fourth pupil omnibus survey.
The survey shows that the proportion of pupils reporting that they have been bullied has fallen, but the proportion of parents who say their child had been bullied has increased.
These latest findings came from the fourth “wave” of the survey, which began in the summer of 2016. Data was gathered from school pupils aged 11-17 attending a state-funded secondary school across England, and their parents or carers.
What school pupils say
Here are seven findings:
- 81 per cent of pupils took part in some extracurricular activity, with sport being the most common.
- 41 per cent said their school had a breakfast club, but only 4 per cent used it daily.
- 79 per cent felt there was a specific staff member they could speak to about mental health concerns - though most parents did not know what support was offered.
- 97 per cent of pupils at and above Year 9 knew about the grading changes to GCSEs, as did 91 per cent of parents - around half of both felt they understood the reasons for the change.
- Asked about GCSE choices, humanities was chosen by 68 per cent of pupils, a foreign language (48 per cent), arts (40 per cent), and design and technology (32 per cent), with enjoyment of a subject the main factor.
- School careers advice was rated “helpful” by 71 per cent of pupils, but most parents relied on their own knowledge to advise their child.
- 77 per cent of pupils agreed that their performance at school would affect their progress in life.
The survey took place from November 2017 to January 2018, and was answered by 2,590 paired parent/carer and school pupil respondents, with a 22 per response rate. A new addition to wave 4 was the inclusion of paired responses from college students aged 16-17 attending a further education or sixth-form college across England and their parents/carers.
