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A major new survey of almost 150,000 10 to 15 year-olds in England reveals that a large majority are happy, healthy and feel safe in their schools and local areas – but almost half are worried about their future.

The annual Tellus3 survey of children and young people, published today by Ofsted, the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills, also found that bullying was still a problem, and that smoking, drinking and drugs remain concerns.

The study, staged during spring this year, asked children and young people in Years 6, 8 and 10 from 3114 schools in 145 local authorities in England how they viewed their lives - and how good local authorities are at providing services for young people.

Results indicate a positive picture for the vast majority, though there remain long-standing problems, with the level of drinking, drug use and smoking needing to be addressed (see ‘what young people said’ below).

Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills, Christine Gilbert, said: “This survey was conducted to learn more about the concerns of children and young people and to share this information with local authorities, schools and policy makers.

“The survey finds much that is positive in their lives, and encouragingly some things have improved since last year’s survey. However, more needs to be done to support concerns for those children who do not feel safe in schools, those who are bullied and children who smoke, drink and misuse drugs.”

The Chief Inspector added, “Many young people want access to better information and guidance, and it is the responsibility of agencies such as local councils, as well as schools, to ensure children get the advice they need in order to make the right decisions for their futures.”

Tellus3 is the second national survey of children and young people, asking participants to report on how healthy they are, how safe they feel, whether they enjoy school, if they are happy, and if the advice they receive on matters like sex and relationships is sufficient. They were also asked what would make their lives better.

What young people said

Happiness and helpfulness

The majority of children and young people (69%) said they are happy and almost all (95%) said they have one or more good friends. Fewer than last year answered that they were worried about friendships. Of concern, however, is the small yet significant number of children and young people (8%) who report that they are unhappy about life.

Thirty two percent of 10 to 15 year olds when asked what worried them most responded that they are worried about their body; this is first time this question has been asked.

Better information and advice about sex and relationships was wanted by more than a third of children and young people.

Most young people say they give some of their time to charity work or help others in their neighbourhood.

Although an improved figure from last year, three in five still feel their views are not listened to in the running of their school.

The future

Changes from last year’s survey results show that more children and young people have a positive perspective overall. More than half report that they want to stay on at school and go to university. An increased number would like more information to help them plan their future; 62% compared with 55% last year.

The survey results also show more children and young people are concerned about their future. This result shows one of the largest changes from last year, with nearly half identifying this as a significant concern compared with 30% last year. In line with this concern about their future, exams are also a worry for many (57%).

As last year, most (81%) said they tried hard in school all or most of the time. However, fewer report they enjoy school always or most of the time; 50%, compared with 58% last year. Also similar to last year the majority (81%) said that more interesting lessons are the most important thing to help them learn more.

Bullying and feeling safe

The picture of bullying is a mixed one. Thirty-nine percent of young people said they had been bullied at school. An increased number (11%) said that bullying was not a problem in their school. Despite these more positive findings over a quarter said bullying was a significant worry for them and fewer young people (35%) said their schools dealt with bullying well. Although a smaller number than last year, there is still one in nine who responded that they felt unsafe in school, or going to and from school.

Alcohol, smoking and drugs

Although a smaller number of 10-15 year olds than last year reported they got drunk regularly, this figure is still high at almost one in six. A quarter of them said they had never had an alcoholic drink.

Three quarters of children and young people have never smoked a cigarette. This is a slight improvement on last year’s finding although a small number (4%) smoked every day.

The large majority (86%) of 13 to 15 year olds said they have never taken drugs. This is an increase from last year; however at least 6% responded that they had used drugs in the last four weeks.

Health

As last year, the survey found that the vast majority of children consider themselves to be quite or very healthy. Over 90% report that they eat at least one portion of fruit and vegetables each day, two thirds at least three or four portions, while only a quarter report eating the recommended five portions per day.

More than nine out of ten said they took part in sports or other physical activity for at least 30 minutes in the last week. Just over one third of children and young people spent at least 30 minutes doing sport or other active things almost every day in the last week. Four percent of 10 to 15 year olds said they did not take part in these activities at all.

John Freeman, on behalf of the Association of Directors of Children's Services, said "The Tellus3 survey continues to provide very useful information to local authorities, supplementing our local surveys with national benchmarking. We are delighted that most children and young people say that they are happy, healthy and feel safe in their schools and communities. However, the survey points up continuing concerns with bullying, and this is a priority action for many local areas. For a minority, the long-term health and social impacts of alcohol, smoking, and drugs remain a concern, and again addressing these issues is a priority for schools, colleges and Children's Trusts."

Read the report

Read the local authority reports

1. The questions in this survey were designed to reflect the priorities set out in the Government’s Every Child Matters initiative, aimed at improving the education, health and well-being of children.
2. The five Every Child Matters Outcomes are 1: Being healthy, 2: Staying Safe, 3: Enjoying and achieving, 4: Making a positive contribution, 5: Achieving economic wellbeing.
3. The information on which this release is based is available on the Ofsted website, www.ofsted.gov.uk, together with local authority level results on: www.ofsted.gov.uk/Ofsted-home/Children-s-and-local-services-by-local-authority. A technical report, providing detail on the methodology of the survey will also be available.
4. The Tellus3 survey was jointly developed with the Department of Children, Schools and Families. From 2009, the annual TellUs survey will be carried out by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.
5. A sample of schools was selected in each local authority, representing different types of schools in each area and including a small number of special schools. The schools were then provided with guidance detailing how to select pupils to take part in the survey.
6. The questions in the survey were tested with children to ensure that they understood the questions and answered them in a meaningful way.
7. The responses from the survey were weighted to ensure that the summary data at local authority and national level represents the population of year 6, 8 and 10 children within that area in terms of the following characteristics: gender, proportion of children eligible for free school meals in the school (as a proxy for deprivation) and type of school. Population data for 2007 from the Pupil Level Annual School Census was used to derive the weights, and the number of children attending Pupil Referral Unites was obtained from the 2007 School Level Annual School Census.
8. The national summary report provided data for the selected questions at national level. 148,988 individual responses from children and young people across 145 local councils contributed to the national figures. Five councils did not take part in the survey (City of London, Trafford, Hammersmith and Fulham, Westminster and Southwark).
9. Further details of the survey design and methodology can be found in the Tellus3 technical report.
10. The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) has the responsibility for the regulation and inspection of children's social care, the inspection of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, childminders, full and sessional day-care providers, out of school care, crèches, adoption and fostering agencies, residential schools, family centres and homes for children, all state maintained schools, some independent schools, pupil referral units, the overall level of services for children in local authority areas (known as Joint Area Reviews), further education Initial Teacher Training, and publicly funded adult skills and employment based training.
11. The Ofsted Press Office can be contacted on 0207 421 6622 between 8.30am – 6.30pm Monday – Friday. During evenings and weekends the out-of-hours duty press officer can be reached on 07919 057359. Alternatively you can email your enquiry to pressenquiries@ofsted.gov.uk