FAQs for schools and teachers
What is the study about?
What is the purpose of the teachers and school surveys?
How was my school chosen for the study?
Who is carrying out the research?
Have young people and their parents consented to teachers and schools taking part?
Who can complete the school survey?
Who can complete the teacher survey?
How to take part in the study?
How will the information from schools and teachers be used?
Confidentiality and data protection
Will information be shared with the young person and their family?
Does my school and teachers have to take part?
Where can I find out more?
What is the study about?
Growing Up in the 2020s is a new national study of 8,500 young people in secondary schools in England. The study follows young people and their families throughout the secondary school years and collects perspectives from individuals in the school environment. It will provide unique insights into how young people’s school, home life and relationships shape their future attainment, wellbeing and employment outcomes.
Growing Up in the 2020s will inform national policies concerning schools, education and services. These policies will then help support families and young people in the future.
What is the purpose of the teachers and school surveys?
By contacting schools and teachers we will be able to gain better understanding of young person’s people’s educational environment. Specifically, it will give us a holistic picture of young person’s engagement in school, their behaviour, their attainment, and their overall wellbeing. The perspectives of teachers who interact with pupils on a regular basis are invaluable for this study because they can provide us with unique insights of their experiences in the classroom environment. This information will be evaluated together with young person’s self-reported accounts and their experiences in home environment to create a deep understanding on how they shape young people’s lives during secondary school years.
It is very important that the school the pupil attends and the pupil’s nominated teacher take part in Growing Up in the 2020s study. The school or the teacher selected cannot be replaced because we are only interested in understanding the school environment that is unique to the young person participating in the study.
How was my school chosen for the study?
One or more pupils in Year 8 at your school have been invited to take part in the Growing Up in the 2020s study. A group of young people were selected at random from the National Pupil Database to represent pupils in their year group across England. To make sure we get a more complete picture of young people’s lives, we are asking both young people, their parents or carers, and their schools and teachers to take part.
Who is carrying out the research?
The study is funded by DfE and is being carried out by the National Centre for Social research (NatCen), the largest independent social research organisation in Britain. NatCen are working in collaboration with the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) and the National Children’s Bureau (NCB). The study has been reviewed by an independent group of people called a Research Ethics Committee, to protect participants’ safety, rights, wellbeing and dignity. The study has received ethical approval by the NatCen Research Ethics Committee (Reference no. P17541).
Have young people and their parents consented to teachers and schools taking part?
Yes. In the first stage of the study, we carried out face-to-face interviews with the young person and their parent(s) and/or carer(s). During these interviewers we informed young people about the purpose of the teacher survey and asked whether they were happy for us to contact one of their teachers. If they agreed, we then asked them to nominate a teacher who they feel knows them best and teaches them regularly.
We have not sought the young person or their parent's or carer's permission to contact schools. This is because the information collected from schools is about the school itself, not about individual pupils.
Who can complete the school survey?
We are inviting only the schools where the attending pupil has been invited to take part in the Growing Up in the 2020s study. It is very important that the invited school participates in the study, because we cannot approach other schools outside the sample to make up the numbers.
The survey covers topics such as school policies and initiatives relating to attendance and behaviour management, parental engagement and communication, and pupil wellbeing. In our first communication to the school, we will ask for the headteacher to nominate the most suitable person to complete the survey by filling out an online contact form. Please nominate a senior staff member who has good oversight of your school’s policies in these areas. Examples of job roles that could be suitable for the purpose include Head of Pastoral Care or Behavioural Lead. However, please feel free to suggest other suitable staff members regardless of their job title. Once a staff member has been nominated, please get in touch with them and pass on the provided information about the study. We will also send an invitation to the survey to the nominated respondent directly. All the answers will be treated in strict confidence.
Who can complete the teacher survey?
We would like the teacher named in the invitation letters to fill out the questionnaire. It is very important that each selected teacher participates as we cannot replace the named teacher by another teacher in the same school. The young person has specifically consented for this teacher to be included in the research.
This survey covers a range of topics about young person’s engagement in school, behaviour, potential attainment, overall wellbeing and the teacher/young person relationship. All the answers will be treated in strict confidence.
How to take part in the study?
Your school and in some cases a pupil’s nominated teacher will receive a letter and an email inviting to take part in the study. Both the letter and an email will contain a direct web link where you can complete the study. You can also complete it by going to take the school survey webpage or take the teacher survey webpage. When asked, please enter your access code that appears on the letter and email you were sent.
The school and the teacher surveys are separate short online questionnaires. Each questionnaire should take no longer than 10-15 minutes to complete.
How will the information from schools and teachers be used?
The information collected as part of Growing Up in 2020s study will help us create a holistic picture about how young people’s school, home life and relationships shape their education and development.
The information will be combined with the information collected from the young person and their parent(s) or carer(s), so we can produce statistics. Published research from this study will never identify any school or individual.
Names and contact details of teachers and school leaders and contact details are collected and stored solely for the purpose of sending the surveys and communications. These details will not be shared with the DfE and we will never pass data on to third parties to be used to evaluate school’s performance or for benchmarking against other schools.
Data that we are collecting will be used solely for research purposes.
Confidentiality and data protection
Any information given including personal details and questionnaire responses will remain strictly confidential and handled in accordance with the UK Data Protection legislation. The information will only be shared with approved researchers for statistics purposes only. The privacy notice explains how we keep your information safe.
Will information be shared with the young person and their family?
No, we won’t share survey responses with young people, their parents or anyone else at the school.
Does my school and teachers have to take part?
Schools' and teacher's participation in the Growing Up in the 2020s study is really important to ensure the research findings are reliable and contribute effectively to future decision-making. Participation is completely voluntary, however, so it is up to you. If you do take part, you can change your mind at any time, and school staff can choose not to answer any questions that they prefer not to. Young people can participate in the study even if their school and/or individual teachers decide not to be involved.
Where can I find out more?
If you have any queries about taking part in the study, please email us at gu2020s@natcen.ac.uk or call us on Freephone 0800 652 4574. The opening times for the phone line are Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.
You can also read about the study on the Department for Education research page.