Report: Primary school (years 5 & 6) mental wellbeing

Key findings 

• Most pupils commented that friends made them happy (56%), whereas students worried most about school and homework (37%)
• Most pupils had access to an internet-enabled device (96%), and a majority had some form of supervision when online (77%) 
• Roughly two-fifths had at least one social media account (78%), and more had been spoken to about online safety (88%)

Recommendation

The COVID-19 pandemic has immensely affected primary school education. In light of this, it is likely that the mental health of pupils will have been impacted. Key stakeholders feel that while this does reflect on the potential accuracy of the current report findings in the new circumstances, it does provide the opportunity to carry out a pre and post COVID-19 comparison as the existing data creates a strong baseline comparator. As such, our recommendation is: 

To investigate the potential to repeat this survey, possibly with additional questions that reflect the pandemic's impact, in order to publish a comparative report of pupils' mental health prior to and following the COVID-19 pandemic.