New report reveals Year 10 students have lower levels of wellbeing than any other year group

New analysis from The Children’s Society today highlights a troubling pattern among 14 to 15-year-olds in the UK. A significant proportion of Year 10 students have low levels of wellbeing, with one in seven reporting this – more than among other year groups in secondary education.

The Children’s Society said this concerning statistic reflects a broader issue that extends throughout the secondary school years, where students never quite regain the happiness levels of their primary school days.

The charity’s report, ‘One Small Step?’, reveals 15.3 per cent of Year 10 pupils have low wellbeing and that young people experience lower wellbeing on average throughout their time in secondary school.

The research is consistent with findings from the most recent Good Childhood Report, which showed a higher percentage of 15-year-olds were unhappy with a number of aspects of their lives than at any of the other ages examined.

The report takes a close look at the association between moments of educational transition and reductions in wellbeing and also finds that, as well as Year 10 being a moment of concern, 14.7 per cent of young people have low wellbeing in Year 12, and one in eight (12.7 per cent) in Year 11.    

The disparity between genders is stark and extends into later transitional school years, with girls in Years 9 and 12 having lower average happiness with school, their relationships with friends, use of time, and what may happen to them in the future, and lower overall wellbeing than boys. Almost one in five girls (19 per cent) in Year 12 experience low wellbeing compared to almost one in 10 boys (9.6 per cent).

Patterns for girls in different school years further emphasise the difficulties for girls following transitions, with girls in Year 7 having lower average wellbeing scores than their counterparts in Year 6 (6.7 compared to 7.3 [on a scale of 0 to 10] respectively). Average happiness with school is also lower among females in Year 7 (6.9 on a scale of 0 to 10) than those in Year 6 (7.8); while for males in these school years, the difference in average scores is more modest (7.2 in Year 7 and 7.5 in Year 6 for happiness with school).

Mark Russell, chief executive of The Children’s Society, said: “It’s alarming that we are seeing this ongoing crisis in children’s wellbeing with young people struggling with key transition moments during secondary school and girls in particular finding it harder than boys.  

“We know the education system is under significant pressure and its vital that schools and school leaders are properly supported with necessary resource, guidance and capacity to deliver a more wellbeing-integrated, transition-focused level of support.