For years the Scottish government has been wrestling with how it should monitor the health and wellbeing of young people, given one of the key aims of the curriculum is to not just improve academic attainment, but also to improve how young people feel both in body and mind.
Finally, in 2021-22, the Scottish government introduced the health and wellbeing census in a bid to track progress.
However, the survey became mired in controversy because of the explicit nature of some of the questions. In a section on relationships and sexual health, senior pupils were asked about their sexual experiences, including whether they had engaged in oral and anal sex, with reports of some councils abandoning the survey and others pulling certain questions.
Now the first national report on the census findings, published today, shows that only half of Scottish local authorities - 16 councils in total - have shared the data they collected from pupils with the government.
On the controversial sex and relationships questions, the results show that - while 44.5 per cent of senior pupils in S4-6 say they have had no sexual experiences - more than one in 10 reports that they have had penetrative sex (14 per cent), and half did not use a condom on the most recent occasion (49.8 per cent).
Young people living in the most deprived areas were slightly less likely to use a condom than those in the least deprived areas: 39.3 per cent of those in the most deprived quintile reported using a condom the most recent time they had penetrative sex, compared to 43.7 per cent of senior pupils in the least deprived areas.
Pupils living in the most disadvantaged areas were also less likely to agree that it is easy to get information or ask for help on sexual health issues.
The report also looks at attitudes to school and aspirations; neighbourhood and life at home; physical health; mental health and wellbeing; experience of bullying; and substance use.
On attitudes to school, the survey found that “positive perceptions of attitudes to school are highest for those in primary stages, and decreases as pupils progress into secondary school” - so while 72 per cent of P5 pupils agree that “most of the time I am happy at school”, less than half of S3, S4 and S5 pupils agreed with the statement.
Boys are more likely to agree that they are happy at school: 53.1 per cent of girls agreed they were happy at school, compared to 61.6 per cent of boys; 30.3 per cent of girls said they felt pressured a lot by the schoolwork they had to do, compared to 16 per cent of boys.
Generally, the survey finds “girls’ mental health and wellbeing is lower than that for boys”. Just half of girls surveyed agreed that “my life is just right” (67.7 per cent of boys agreed with the statement). Not even a third of girls (29.5 per cent) agreed they were “happy with my body and the way I look”, while 55.2 per cent of boys agreed with the statement.
The report states: “By deprivation, positive perceptions of enjoyment of learning new things, being happy at school, feeling their teachers treat them fairly, and feeling positive about their future were lower for pupils living in more deprived areas.”
Most pupils report that they enjoy learning new things (80.1 per cent overall and 77.8 per cent for those living in the most deprived areas) and over 70 per cent overall agree “teachers treat me fairly”.
Around a third of pupils (30.8 per cent) said they had been bullied in the past year.
The prevalence of bullying generally decreased as pupils got older (40.7 per cent of P5 pupils reported being bullied in the last year, compared to 20.4 per cent of S3 pupils) but the prevalence of being bullied at school was greater for pupils as they got older.
Of those who had been bullied, more than 80 per cent said they were bullied at school: 77.2 per cent of P5s who said they had been bullied said it took place at school, compared to 87.6 per cent of S3s.
Those in the least deprived areas were more likely to say they had been bullied at school, while those in the most deprived areas were more likely to say they had been bullied elsewhere or online: 39.6 per cent of pupils from the most deprived areas reported being bullied online, compared to 31.5 per cent from the least deprived areas.
The full report is available here.
