Research and analysis

Parent, pupil and learner voice: March 2024

Updated 17 December 2024

Applies to England

Introduction

The Department for Education (DfE) commissioned Verian (formerly known as Kantar Public) to recruit and maintain a panel of Parents, Pupils and Learners in England, known as the Parent, Pupil and Learner Voice (PPLV). The PPLV is designed to collect robust evidence to help the Department for Education understand the perspectives of parents, carers, pupils and learners. This allows us to make more effective policy.

The PPLV works as a series of short surveys across the academic year, covering a range of new and longstanding policy issues. This report is about the findings from the March 2024 survey wave of the survey wave of the Parent, Pupil and Learner Voice. This wave took place before the new UK government took office on 5 July 2024. As a result, the content may not reflect current government policy.

Methodology

The PPLV survey is answered by secondary school pupils (years 7 to 13), learners in further education (years 12 and 13) and parents of primary, secondary and special school pupils (years 1 to 11) who have agreed to participate in short, regular research surveys on topical education issues. We select parents and pupils randomly using records from the National Pupil Database (NPD) and invite them to take part in an online survey. For the first survey of the academic year, we send invitation letters to households. For other surveys in that same academic year, we send the invitation by email and text message to the parents and pupils who agreed to join the panel in the first survey.

Mid-way through the academic year, we randomly select pupils and learners in years 12 and 13 and invite them to join the panel in the same way. We select learners (those studying in a college setting) from the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) and we select pupils (those studying in a school setting) from the NPD.

We conducted the survey between 20 March and 27 March. The respondents were:

• 812 parents of primary school pupils
• 747 parents of secondary school pupils
• 517 parents of special school pupils
• 719 secondary school pupils in years 7 to 9
• 515 secondary school pupils in years 10 to 11
• 1,216 pupils and learners in years 12 and 13

The topics included in the survey are related to a variety of policy areas that teams in DfE are working on. Policy teams submit questions for inclusion in the survey, and use the results to help inform policy development in the areas they work on. This report summarises findings for each topic covered.

Unless otherwise stated, when we refer to the ‘average’, we are reporting the arithmetic mean. Complete findings can be found in the published data tables, which include more detail on how different groups answered each question.

The report makes some comparisons to previous surveys conducted in previous academic years, for example the Parent, Pupil and Learner Panel Omnibus surveys for 2022 to 2023. These comparisons are helpful to understand how trends may be changing. However, the survey methodology changes over time and so comparisons to previous years are not as reliable as survey findings within each academic year. When making comparisons to previous data, we compare data to the most recent wave in which we asked the question and/or waves run at a similar time of year.

Further information on the survey methodology is available in the accompanying technical report.

Banding for percentages

We use a consistent banding system for describing percentages, as follows:

• Very few - 0% to 10%
• A small minority - 11% to 32%
• A minority - 33% to 47%
• About half - 48% to 52%
• A majority - 53% to 66%
• A large majority - 67% to 89%
• Almost all - 90% to 100%

We do not describe 0% and 100% as ‘none’ and ‘all’ because figure rounding may mean this is not accurate. For instance, 100% may be 99.6% of respondents, rounded to the nearest whole number.

Topics covered in this survey

The survey included questions about:

• independent learning
• subject choices
• recycling in school
• wraparound childcare availability
• music education
• school attendance
• behaviour in school
• school belonging
• pupil and learner wellbeing

Independent learning

We asked pupils and learners in years 12 and 13 how many hours they spent studying in the previous two weeks, excluding the time they have spent at school or college (Figure 1).

The most common response (30%) was that they had spent between 1 and 5 hours studying over the past two weeks. The majority of pupils and learners (61%) had spent 10 hours or less studying in the previous two weeks, while a minority (33%) had spent more than 10 hours studying.

We also asked parents of secondary school pupils how many hours their child spent studying in the previous two weeks, excluding time spent in school (Figure 2).

As with year 12 and 13 pupils and learners, the most common response for parents of secondary pupils (51%) was that their child had spent between 1 and 5 hours studying over the previous two weeks. A large majority (79%) said that their child had spent 10 hours or less studying over the previous two weeks, while a small minority (18%) said their child had spent more than 10 hours studying.

Challenges to studying

We asked pupils and learners in year 12 and 13 what challenges they faced while doing homework or studying at home this term (Figure 3).

The majority of pupils and learners (56%) said that lack of motivation was a barrier to doing homework or studying at home. A small minority also said that they experienced distractions from others in the household (25%) or that they did not have enough time because of other responsibilities (21%). A small minority of pupils (15%) said they experienced no challenges.

We also asked parents of secondary school pupils what challenges their child has faced while doing homework or studying at home this academic term (Figure 4).

The most commonly selected challenges included their child lacking motivation (44%) and their child experiencing distractions from others in the household (22%). A small minority of parents (23%) said their child had experienced no challenges when doing homework or studying at home this academic term.

Subject choices

We asked pupils and learners in years 12 and 13 who they had received help or advice from when deciding on which A level or post-16 qualifications to study (Figure 5).

The most common sources of help and advice were parents (64%), subject teachers (38%), and friends (32%). Very few pupils and learners (10%) said they had not received help or advice from anyone.

We asked parents of year 10 and 11 pupils from whom their child had received help or advice when deciding on which GCSE subjects to study (Figure 6).

The most common sources of help and advice were themselves or another parent (78%), a subject teacher (45%), and the school’s career service (29%). Very few parents (5%) said their child had not received help or advice from anyone.

We asked pupils and learners who are not currently studying English literature or language at A Level why they are not doing so (Figure 7).

The most common reasons were that the course did not appeal to them (48%), that they did not enjoy studying English at GCSE (45%), and that they did not think it would be useful for future employment or study (39%).

We also asked parents of year 10 and 11 pupils who are not planning on studying English literature or language at A Level why their child is not planning to do so (Figure 8).

The most common reasons selected were that their child did not enjoy studying English at GCSE (50%), that the course does not appeal to them (39%), and that they did not think it would be useful for future employment or study (29%).

We asked pupils and learners in years 12 and 13 who are not currently studying a level 3 maths qualification, such as an A Level or T Level in maths, why they are not doing so (Figure 9).

The most common reasons were that they did not enjoy studying maths at GCSE (43%), that the course content does not appeal to them (41%), and that they think it is too difficult (37%).

We also asked parents of pupils in years 10 and 11 who aren’t planning on studying a level 3 maths qualification why their child is not planning to do so (Figure 10).

The most common reasons selected were that their child did not enjoy studying maths at GCSE (43%), that they think it is too difficult (42%), and that the course content does not appeal to them (33%).

Recycling in school

A large majority of pupils and learners (68%) said that their school or college has recycling bins. We asked these pupils and learners how often teachers or other staff encourage them to recycle (Figure 11).

A large majority (67%) said staff encourage them to recycle, with 28% saying this happens every day or at least once a week. A small minority (22%) said staff never encourage them to recycle.

We also asked pupils and learners who said their school or college has recycling bins how much of their own rubbish they had recycled over the past week, excluding food (Figure 12).

A large majority of pupils and learners (76%) said they had recycled at least some of their rubbish, with about half (52%) saying they had recycled most or all of it. A small minority (11%) said they had not recycled any of their rubbish.

Wraparound childcare availability

We asked parents of primary school pupils or special school pupils in years 1 to 6 how likely they would be to use more before and after-school childcare if it was available in September 2024 (Figure 13).

About half (50%) said they were likely to use it, while a minority (41%) said they were not likely to use it.

We also asked parents of primary school pupils or special school pupils in years 1 to 6 whether they were aware that, last year, the government announced extra funding so that primary schools could increase before and after-school childcare provision. The majority (64%) were not aware of this announcement.

Music education

A minority of pupils (37%) said they had watched a live musical performance at school since the beginning of the academic year, while a small minority (20%) said they had taken part in a live musical performance. These findings are similar to June 2023, when 40% said they had watched and 21% said they had taken part in a live musical performance at school.

A large majority of pupils (70%) said their school provides a space for them to practice singing or playing an instrument, a similar proportion compared to June 2023 (73%).

We asked pupils in KS3 in what format they had received instrument and singing teaching in their school (Figure 14).

About half of pupils in KS3 (52%) said they had received instrument teaching in a small group or in their class. A small minority said they had received instrument teaching in a school ensemble or band (12%) or one-to-one (13%), or that they had not received instrument teaching in school (23%). A smaller proportion said they had received instrument teaching in a small group or whole class compared to when we last asked this question in June 2023 (68%), while a larger proportion said they had not received any instrument teaching compared to June 2023 (16%).

A minority of pupils in KS3 (46%) said they had received singing teaching in a group or in their class. A small minority (14%) said they had received singing teaching in a school ensemble or group, while very few (8%) said they had received singing teaching one-to-one. A small minority (27%) said they had not received singing teaching in school, a smaller proportion when compared to June 2023 (34%).

We asked the same questions to pupils in KS4 (Figure 15).

The majority of pupils in KS4 (58%) said they had not received instrument teaching this academic year. Fewer pupils said this compared to June 2023 (64%). A small minority said they had received instrument teaching in a small group or whole class (20%), in a school band or ensemble (11%), or one-to-one (11%).

About half of pupils in KS4 (52%) said they had not received singing teaching this academic year. Fewer pupils said this compared to June 2023 (67%). A small minority said they had received singing teaching in a small group or whole class (28%), in a school ensemble or group (12%), or one-to-one (10%). Compared to June 2023, a larger proportion of pupils said they had received singing teaching in a small group or whole class (18% in June 2023) or one-to-one (5%).

We asked all parents whether their child had received music teaching outside of school since September 2023. A small minority of parents said their child had received singing teaching (19%) or instrument teaching (21%) outside of school. These findings were similar to June 2023, when 23% of parents said that their child had received singing teaching and 21% of parents said that their child had received instrument teaching outside of school that academic year.

Finally, we asked pupils how many minutes of timetabled music teaching they had received in an average week this academic year. On average, pupils in KS3 said they had received 66 minutes of timetabled music teaching, and pupils in KS4 said they had received 118. For KS3 pupils, this was lower than when last asked in June 2023, when these pupils said they had received on average 75 minutes of timetabled music teaching a week. For KS4 pupils, this was higher than when last asked in June 2023, when these pupils said they had received on average 94 minutes of timetabled music teaching per week.

Attendance

We asked parents how often their child had physically attended school over the previous two weeks of term. We also asked pupils in years 7 to 13 how often they had physically attended school (Figure 16).

Almost all primary (98%), secondary (95%), and special school parents (93%) said their child had attended school every weekday or most weekdays over the previous two weeks. Similarly, almost all KS3 pupils (95%) and KS4 pupils (95%) said they had attended school every weekday or most weekdays.

The proportion of primary school parents, secondary school parents and KS4 pupils who said that they or their child had attended school every day was similar to December 2023, when we last asked this question.

A higher proportion of KS3 pupils (81%) said they had attended school every day compared to December 2023 (75%). A higher proportion of parents of special school pupils (78%) said their child had attended school every day compared to December 2023 (73%).

We asked those who said they or their child had not attended school every day over the past two weeks why this was. The majority of parents (64%) said that their child had been ill. Similarly, the majority of pupils (64%) said they had been ill. The second most common reason given by parents (24%) and pupils (30%) was anxiety and mental health problems.

We asked parents who said their child had not attended school due to anxiety and mental health problems which factors had contributed to this. The most common factors selected were their child’s worries about lessons and learning (47%), worries about other pupils’ behaviour (40%), and worries about getting on with teachers (39%).

We also asked pupils who said they had not attended school due to anxiety and mental health problems which factors had contributed to this. The most common factors selected by pupils were worries about other pupils’ behaviour (43%), worries about lessons and learning (41%), and general worries not about anything in particular (29%).

Similarly, we asked parents who said their child had not attended school due to anxiety and mental health problems which factors had contributed to this. The most common factors selected by parents were their child’s worries about lessons and learning (47%), worries about other pupils’ behaviour (40%) and worries about getting on with teachers (39%).

Attendance communication

About half of parents (49%) said that the school sends them regular updates about their child’s attendance, while a small minority (17%) said they receive updates only when there is an issue with attendance. We asked parents who had received updates about their child’s attendance how useful these communications had been in supporting their child to attend school (Figure 17).

A large majority of parents of primary (66%), secondary (67%) and special school pupils (78%) said these communications have been very useful or fairly useful in supporting their child to attend school.

A larger proportion of parents of special school pupils (55%) said communications have been very useful, compared to parents of primary (38%) and secondary school pupils (37%).

Behaviour in school

We asked school pupils in years 7 to 13 a series of questions about behaviour in their school over the previous week. Firstly, we asked pupils how they would rate the behaviour of other pupils in their school over the previous week (Figure 18).

A small minority of pupils in years 7 to 11 (32%) said behaviour in their school over the past week had been good or very good. Slightly fewer (25%) said that it had been poor or very poor.

The majority of pupils in years 12 and 13 (56%) said behaviour in their school over the past week had been good or very good, while a small minority (15%) said it had been poor or very poor.

We looked at how pupils’ ratings of the behaviour of other pupils in their school has changed over time (Figure 19).

A smaller proportion of pupils in years 7 to 11 rated behaviour in their school as good or very good compared to December 2023 (43%), while this proportion was similar compared to March 2023 (35%).

The proportion of pupils in years 12 and 13 who rated behaviour in their school as good or very good was smaller compared to May 2023 (62%), when we last asked this question to this audience.

Frequency of positive behaviours

We asked pupils in years 7 to 11 about how often certain positive behaviours had occurred in their school over the previous week of term (Figure 20).

About half of pupils in years 7 to 11 (48%) said that their school had been calm and orderly every day or most days, a smaller proportion than in December 2023 (57%) and March 2023 (54%).

A minority of pupils in years 7 to 11 (41%) said that pupils had been respectful to each other every day or most days over the previous week. This was a smaller proportion compared to December 2023 (54%) but similar to March 2023 (43%).

A large majority of pupils in years 7 to 11 (82%) said that staff had been respectful to one another every day or most days during the previous week of term. This was a smaller proportion than in December 2023 (90%) but similar to March 2023 (84%).

We asked the same questions to pupils in years 12 and 13 (Figure 21).

A higher proportion of pupils in years 12 to 13 said that the positive behaviours had happened more often, compared to pupils in years 7 to 11.

The majority of pupils in years 12 and 13 (66%) said that their school had been calm and orderly every day or most days. This was similar when compared to May 2023 (64%), when we last asked these questions to this audience.

A large majority of pupils in years 12 and 13 said that pupils had been respectful to each other every day or most days (71%) over the previous week. This was a larger proportion than in May 2023 (65%).

A large majority of pupils in years 12 and 13 (87%) said that staff had been respectful to one another every day or most days during the previous week of term. This was similar to May 2023 (85%).

Interruptions to learning

We asked pupils how frequently the misbehaviour of other pupils had interrupted their work or their lessons in the past week (Figure 22).

A minority of pupils in years 7 to 11 (33%) and a small minority of pupils in year 12 and 13 (11%) said that the misbehaviour of other pupils had interrupted the lesson or their work in all or most lessons over the previous week.

Very few pupils in years 7 to 11 (4%) said that the misbehaviour of other pupils had never interrupted the lesson, while a small minority of pupils in years 12 and 13 (23%) said this.

We looked at responses to this question over time (Figure 23).

A larger proportion of pupils in years 7 to 11 said that the misbehaviour of other pupils had interrupted the lesson or their work in all or most lessons compared to December 2023 (24%), though findings were similar to March 2023 (32%). A similar proportion of year 12 and 13 pupils said that the misbehaviour of other pupils had interrupted the lesson or their work in all or most lessons compared to May 2023 (11%), when we last asked this question to this audience.

We asked pupils how quickly teachers had dealt with interruptions to learning due to pupil misbehaviour (Figure 24).

The majority of pupils (61%) said teachers had dealt with interruptions very quickly or fairly quickly, while a minority (30%) said this happened not very quickly or not quickly at all.

Being sent out of the classroom

We asked pupils whether teachers in their school send pupils out of class for reasons related to behaviour. A large majority of pupils in years 7 to 11 (88%) said they do, while the majority of pupils in years 12 and 13 (64%) said they do.

We asked these pupils whether a teacher had sent them out of the classroom due to being unhappy with their behaviour since September 2023. A small minority of pupils in years 7 to 11 (28%) said they had, while very few pupils in years 12 and 13 (6%) said they had.

We asked pupils who had been sent out of the classroom due to misbehaviour how long they had been sent out for the last time this had happened (Figure 25).

The most common responses were that they had been sent out for the rest of the lesson (35%) or for less than 10 minutes (32%). A small minority (13%) said they had been sent out for longer than the rest of the lesson.

We also asked these pupils where they had been sent last time they were sent out of a lesson. The most common responses were that they had been sent to a corridor outside the classroom (55%) or to a classroom or space with other pupils from their school (17%).

School safety, enjoyment and belonging

We asked pupils and parents a series of questions about how they, or their child, felt about school over the previous week of term. Firstly, we asked how often they, or their child, had felt safe at school over the previous week of term (Figure 26).

Almost all parents of primary school pupils (93%) said their child had felt safe at school every day or most days. A large majority of parents of secondary school pupils (83%) and parents of special school pupils (85%) said the same. These results were similar to December 2023, when 93% of parents of primary school pupils, 86% of parents of secondary school pupils and 84% of parents of special school pupils said their child had felt safe at school every day or most days over the previous week.

A large majority of pupils in years 7 to 11 (74%) and pupils in years 12 and 13 (87%) said they had felt safe at school every day or most days over the previous two weeks. A smaller proportion of pupils in years 7 to 11 said they had felt safe every day or most days compared to December 2023 (81%), while a similar proportion of pupils in years 12 and 13 said they had felt safe every day or most days compared to May 2023 (83%).

We also asked pupils and parents how often they or their child had enjoyed going to school over the previous week (Figure 27).

A large majority of parents of primary school pupils (86%), parents of secondary school pupils (68%) and parents of special school pupils (79%) said their child had enjoyed going to school every day or most days over the previous week. These results were similar to December 2023, when 87% of parents of primary school pupils, 70% of parents of secondary school pupils and 78% of parents of special school pupils said said their child had enjoyed going to school every day or most days over the previous week.

The majority of pupils in years 7 to 11 (54%) and pupils in years 12 and 13 (51%) said they had enjoyed going to school every day or most days over the previous week. A larger proportion of pupils in years 7 to 11 said this compared to December 2023 (45%). Similarly, a larger proportion of pupils in years 12 and 13 said this compared to May 2023 (44%).

Finally, we asked pupils how often they felt like they belonged at school over the past week (Figure 28).

The majority of pupils in years 7 to 11 (61%) and pupils in years 12 and 13 (59%) said they felt they had belonged at school every day or most days over the past week. Very few pupils in years 7 to 11 (10%) or pupils in years 12 and 13 (11%) said they felt they had never belonged at school.

A similar proportion of pupils in years 7 to 11 said they felt they had belonged at school every day or most days when compared to December 2023 (65%). A similar proportion of pupils in years 12 and 13 said this when compared to May 2023 (58%).

School connectedness

We asked pupils to respond to a series of statements about adults at their school, on a scale of 1 (Never) to 5 (Always).

The average scores across the statements were:

• 3.5 for “there is an adult who really cares about me”
• 3.5 for “there is an adult who tells me when I do a good job”
• 3.6 for “there is an adult who listens to me when I have something to say”
• 3.6 for “there is an adult who believes I will be a success”

We combined these scores to produce an overall ‘school connectedness’ score, between 4 and 20 (Figure 29).

The average school connectedness score was 13.9 for KS3 pupils, 14.4 for KS4 pupils, and 14.4 for year 12 and 13 pupils.

Pupil and learner wellbeing

We asked parents and pupils a series of ONS-validated questions about personal wellbeing. These questions are known as the ‘ONS-4’ measures and are answered using a scale from 0 to 10, with 10 being the highest (e.g. most happy) and 0 being the lowest (e.g. least happy).

Happiness

Firstly, we asked pupils how happy they felt yesterday on a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 being the happiest.

The average happiness score was 6.7 for KS3 pupils, 6.3 for KS4 pupils and 6.0 for year 12 and 13 pupils and learners.

Average happiness scores were lower for KS3 and KS4 pupils compared to December 2023, when the scores were 7.2 for KS3 pupils and 6.8 for KS4 pupils. However, average happiness scores were similar to March 2023, when the scores were 6.7 for KS3 pupils, 6.1 for KS4 pupils and 6.1 for year 12 and 13 pupils and learners.

We also asked parents how happy their child appeared yesterday. The average parent-reported child happiness score was 8.3 for parents of primary school pupils, 7.3 for parents of secondary school pupils, and 7.6 for parents of special school pupils.

Average parent-reported child happiness scores were lower for parents of primary or special school pupils compared to December 2023, when the scores were 8.6 for parents of primary school pupils and 7.1 for parents of special school pupils. The average parent-reported child happiness score for parents of secondary school pupils was similar when compared to December 2023 (7.7).

Life satisfaction

We asked pupils to what extent they are satisfied with their life, on a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 being the most satisfied.

The average life satisfaction score was 7.0 for KS3 pupils, 6.3 for KS4 pupils and 5.8 for year 12 and 13 pupils and learners.

Average life satisfaction scores were lower than in December 2023, when the average score was 7.4 for KS3 pupils and 6.6 for KS4 pupils.

Compared to March 2023, the average score was similar for KS3 pupils (7.0), KS4 pupils (6.1) and year 12 and 13 pupils and learners (5.7).

Worthwhileness

We asked pupils to what extent they feel that the things they do in their life are worthwhile, on a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 being the most worthwhile.

The average score for feeling that their life was worthwhile was 7.0 for KS3 pupils, 6.3 for KS4 pupils and 6.1 for year 12 and 13 pupils and learners.

Average scores were lower than in December 2023, when the average score was 7.5 for KS3 pupils and 6.8 for KS4 pupils. The average score for year 12 and 13 pupils and learners was similar to May 2023 (5.8), when we last asked this question to this audience.

Anxiousness

We asked pupils and learners how anxious they felt yesterday on a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 being the most anxious.

The average anxiousness score was 4.1 for KS3 pupils, 4.5 for KS4 pupils and 4.7 for year 12 and 13 pupils and learners.

Average scores were higher than in December 2023, when the average score was 3.0 for KS3 pupils and 3.7 for KS4 pupils. The average score for year 12 and 13 pupils and learners was lower compared to May 2023 (5.3), but similar to March 2023 (4.5).

We also asked parents how anxious their child appeared yesterday. The average parent-reported child anxiousness score was 2.4 for parents of primary school pupils, 3.0 for parents of secondary school pupils, and 3.7 for parents of special school pupils.

Parent-reported child anxiousness scores for parents of primary and secondary school pupils were similar to December 2023, when the average scores were 2.1 for parents of primary school pupils and 2.7 for parents of secondary school pupils. The parent-reported child anxiousness score for parents of special school pupils was higher compared to December 2023 (4.2).

Loneliness

We asked pupils how often they felt lonely.

A small minority of KS3 pupils (15%), KS4 pupils (18%), and year 12 and 13 pupils and learners (26%) said they often feel lonely.

A larger proportion of pupils in KS3 said they often felt lonely compared to December 2023 (10%), while a similar proportion said this compared to March 2023 (13%). A similar proportion of KS4 pupils said they often felt lonely compared to December 2023 (17%), but a smaller proportion said this compared to May 2023 (22%). A similar proportion of year 12 and 13 pupils and learners said they often felt lonely compared to May 2023 (28%) and March 2023 (29%).

Glossary of terms

Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND)

A child or young person has SEND if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for them. A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if they:

• have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age
• have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions

Many children and young people who have SEND may also have a disability under the Equality Act 2010 – that is ‘…a physical or mental impairment which has a long-term and substantial adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’. Where a disabled child or young person requires special educational provision, they will also be covered by the SEND definition. For more detail, please see the SEND Code of Practice.

Special schools

Special schools are those that provide an education for children with a special educational need or disability. Special schools with pupils aged 11 and older can specialise in 1 of the 4 areas of special educational needs:

• communication and interaction
• cognition and learning
• social, emotional and mental health
• sensory and physical needs

Schools can further specialise within these categories to reflect the special needs they help with, for example:

• autistic spectrum disorders
• visual impairment
• speech, language and communication needs (SLCN)