BCS70 Head Teacher Questionnaire Data Now Available

A questionnaire sent out to Head Teachers in 1986, when BCS70 cohort members were aged 16, has recently been keyed, cleaned, and linked to 4,592 individual cohort members. Now fully documented, the dataset was deposited by CLS at the UK Data Archive, and is now available for download (study number 5225).

A questionnaire sent out to Head Teachers in 1986, when BCS70 cohort members were aged 16, has recently been keyed, cleaned, and linked to 4,592 individual cohort members. Now fully documented, the dataset was deposited by CLS at the UK Data Archive, and is now available for download (study number 5225).The 1986 BCS70 follow-up at age 16 was one of the most comprehensive surveys undertaken in a longitudinal study. Carried out by the International Centre For Child Studies and named “Youthscan”, it employed no less than nineteen separate survey instruments, such as parental and school class questionnaires and medical examinations. The cohort members answered questions themselves for the first time, kept two four-day diaries (one for nutrition and one for general activity), and undertook some educational assessments.

The separate questionnaire sent out to Head teachers (‘Document M’) was returned by only 2,000 heads. Nevertheless, now it has been linked to the 4,592 cohort members who attended those schools, it provides useful information which was not previously available for analysis. In particular, one question answered in this survey is ‘school type’, which is not asked at any other BCS70 survey. For the first time it will be possible, for a sample of 4,592, to distinguish between cohort members attending LEA comprehensives, LEA grammar schools, independent schools, etc. Other questions include pupil/teacher ratios, subjects covered, types of classes and structure, curriculum, streaming policy, racial mix, discipline, special needs, sport facilities, etc.

The questionnaire itself, annotated with the variable names, is now available.