Growing Up in the 2020s study

Growing Up in the 2020s is a new, nationally representative longitudinal study of secondary school children in England.

The study has been commissioned by the Department for Education as part of a series of longitudinal studies known as the Education and Outcomes Panel Studies. The study is led by the mental health charity Anna Freud, in partnership with CLS and Ipsos.

If you are a researcher, find out more on the Anna Freud website.

If you are a Growing Up in the 2020s participant, visit the study website.

Study news

News

New study to be “barometer” for the wellbeing and education of teens in England

Growing Up in the 2020s is the country’s first comprehensive long-term study tracking adolescents’ development and educational outcomes following the Covid-19 pandemic.

About Growing Up in the 2020s

Sample design

A sample of approximately 20,000 children aged 12-13 (Year 8) in England has been selected from the Department for Education’s National Pupil Database, with a higher selection probability for pupils eligible for free school meals.

Approximately 7,750 children and parents are expected to participate at Wave 1 with approximately 4,000 paired child-parent interviews anticipated at Wave 4.

Data collection

There will be four waves of data collection, in:

• Year 8 (face-to-face)
• Year 9 (online, then telephone)
• Year 11 (online, then telephone)
• Year 12 (online, then face-to-face).

Data will be collected from young people and parents/carers in all waves, and teachers in Waves 1 and 3, including on the following topics:

• school and education
• health and wellbeing
• activities
• peer relationships and bullying
• family relationships
• financial security
• sociodemographics
• cognitive assessments.

In Wave 1, the Iris substudy will track the internet usage of a subsample of approximately 400 young people on their personal mobile phone for four weeks.

The study includes linkages to parent and young person education, health and economic records.

Study Director

Jess Deighton

Professor in Child Mental Health and Wellbeing at UCL, Director of Applied Research and Evaluation at Anna Freud, and Director of Growing Up in the 2020s

Email: j.deighton@ucl.ac.uk

Professor Jess Deighton is Director of Applied Research and Evaluation at Anna Freud and Professor in Child Mental Health and Wellbeing at UCL. She leads a range of large-scale national research programmes including the national evaluation of the National Lottery Community Fund’s HeadStart programme and the Department for Education-funded Education for Wellbeing programme. She is also a senior researcher for the Department of Health’s Child Policy Research Unit.

View UCL profile

CLS Co-Director

Emla Fitzsimons

Professor of Economics and Director of the Millennium Cohort Study

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