Feeling connected at school aids pupil mental health and attendance, study finds

Tue, 19 May 2026 09:47:24 +0100

Strong relationships with school staff and a sense of belonging at school can protect teenagers’ mental wellbeing and help reduce absences, according to new findings from The University of ԰��’s #BeeWell programme. The large-scale study shows that while poor mental health can drive disengagement from school, positive day-to-day school experiences play a critical role in protecting young people.

About the study

The researchers tracked more than 25,000 students from Year 8 to Year 10 (age 12/13 to 14/15) across 154 secondary schools in England, using attendance records as well as three years of data from the #BeeWell programme. #BeeWell is a collaboration between The University of ԰��, The Gregson Family Foundation and Anna Freud who, together with the Greater ԰�� Combined Authority (GMCA), launched the programme in 2019.

The study found that students who felt more connected to their school and had stronger relationships with staff experienced fewer emotional difficulties (e.g., worry, low mood) over time, while also supporting better attendance. The findings suggest schools should prioritise students’ experiences of connection and support, rather than focusing on attendance alone.

At the same time, increases in emotional difficulties were shown to predict later declines in school belonging and relationships with staff – which suggests that poor mental health can gradually erode students’ connection to school.

How are mental health and school experiences linked?

The study identified a clear pattern in which mental health and school experiences influence one another over time.  When young people experienced increased emotional distress, they were more likely to feel less connected to their school and report weaker relationships with staff in the following year. For some students, particularly girls, worsening mental health also predicted increased absence from school.  However, positive school experiences worked in the opposite direction, helping to protect later mental health.

Why do relationships with staff and belonging matter?

The findings show that supportive relationships and a sense of belonging are not just associated with better mental health - they can actively protect it.  For boys, stronger relationships with school staff drove later reductions in emotional difficulties. For girls, feeling a strong sense of belonging to the school community played a particularly important protective role.

Does attendance improve mental health?

The study found no evidence that simply improving attendance leads to better mental health.  While attendance is often used as a key indicator of student wellbeing, the findings suggest it is more a signal of underlying difficulties than a direct driver of mental health outcomes. In contrast, students’ subjective experiences of school were much more strongly linked to changes in their wellbeing.

What are the implications for schools?

The researchers say the findings point to the importance of strengthening everyday school experiences, and with the GMCA are working with the GM Local Action Attendance Alliance to develop a whole system response to attendance challenges facing schools  This includes building supportive relationships between staff and students, fostering a sense of belonging across the school community, and identifying emotional difficulties early before they lead to disengagement.

Researcher quotes

“Our findings show that how young people experience school on a day-to-day basis really matters,” said Dr Qiqi Cheng, lead author of the study. “While schools rightly focus on making progress on attendance, what happens once pupils are inside the school gates is equally crucial."

Professor Neil Humphrey, academic lead of #BeeWell, said: “Attendance matters, but these findings show that it should not be viewed in isolation. Young people also need to feel that they belong, that they are noticed, and that they have supportive relationships with adults in school. Through #BeeWell, we are working with partners across Greater ԰�� to ensure that responses to attendance challenges also support young people’s mental wellbeing

Publication details

This research was published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

DOI:

Young people’s wellbeing is improving in Greater ԰��, major survey finds

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 12:08:50 +0000

A major survey of tens of thousands of school pupils has revealed a welcome boost in wellbeing among young people across Greater ԰��.

The latest findings from pupils in years 7, 8 and 10 show that more young people now report good levels of wellbeing than in previous years, continuing a positive trend that has developed steadily over the past five years of the programme. In 2025, 59.1% of Year 10 pupils reported good levels of wellbeing, up from 55.1% in 2024. Among younger pupils the trend is similar, with 67.7% of Year 7 pupils reporting good wellbeing compared with 64.2% last year.

The #BeeWell programme at The University of ԰�� has now heard from more than 143,000 young people in Greater ԰�� since it began, making it one of the largest studies of young people’s wellbeing of its kind anywhere in the world. It provides a powerful insight into how teenagers feel about their lives, schools and communities.

While the overall picture is encouraging, young people involved in the programme say the results also highlight areas where change is still needed. Each year the #BeeWell Youth Steering Group - made up of young people from across Greater ԰�� - chooses the issues they believe matter most in the survey results. This year they highlighted three themes they felt were especially important: loneliness and the role communities play in tackling it, relationships with teachers and a sense of belonging at school, and whether young people feel they are gaining the skills they need to be prepared for life.

The survey shows that loneliness among young people has begun to fall since the early years of the programme, when more than half of Year 10 pupils said they felt lonely at least occasionally. By 2025 that figure had dropped to around four in ten young people. Despite this improvement, loneliness remains a significant issue for many teenagers, and the findings suggest that communities have a key role to play in helping young people feel more connected.

Only around half of young people say there are people in their local area they can trust, and just over half say they have an adult outside their home or school who listens to them. Young people involved in the programme say that having welcoming places to spend time, trusted adults nearby and stronger community connections could make a real difference to how supported young people feel.

Relationships within schools also emerged as an important theme in the data. The survey suggests that positive relationships with teachers and staff are closely linked to whether young people feel they belong at school and whether they attend regularly. Just under a third of Year 7 pupils say they have the strongest relationships with staff at school, but this falls as young people get older, dropping to around one in five by Year 10.

At the same time, the number of young people who say they feel they belong at school has risen slightly over the past year. Young people say strengthening relationships between staff and pupils could help improve both wellbeing and attendance, as feeling supported and understood at school plays a key role in whether students feel comfortable and engaged in the classroom.

Young people also wanted the report to explore whether schools are helping them prepare for life beyond education. The findings show that four in five young people believe they will have the skills and knowledge they need when they finish school, a figure that has increased since the programme first began collecting data.

Levels of hope and optimism among young people are also high, with most saying they feel positive about the future. However, only around two thirds of young people say the careers education they receive is useful. Young people involved in the programme say they would like clearer guidance about the wide range of opportunities available to them, including modern careers and different pathways after school.

#BeeWell was launched in 2019 through a partnership between The University of ԰��, The Gregson Family Foundation, Anna Freud and the Greater ԰�� Combined Authority. Each year the programme asks tens of thousands of secondary school pupils about their wellbeing, their schools, their communities and their hopes for the future. By sharing the results with schools, local organisations and decision makers, the programme aims to ensure young people’s voices help shape the support available to them.

“It is incredibly heartening to see this steady climb in wellbeing across our city region - the figures represent thousands of young lives trending toward a more positive future,” said Professor Neil Humphrey from The University of ԰��. “These important gains likely stem from a combination of enhanced local provision and broader population shifts, but the data offers a sobering reminder of the work ahead.”

“Thank you to the 57,000 young people who shared their views this year, and to the 161 schools who made it possible,” said Councillor Mark Roberts, Greater ԰��’s portfolio lead for children and young people. “Over five years #BeeWell has now heard from more than 143,000 young people, making this the biggest exercise of its kind.

“In Greater ԰��, we have committed to improving the wellbeing of young people across the city region, and it is through #BeeWell that we can track our progress. As this year’s results show, there is a need to continue strengthening relationships in schools to improve attendance, ensuring young people remain involved in the development of our Live Well approach, and working so that every young person has a clear line of sight to good jobs, through programmes like the MBacc and Beeline.

“We will continue to act on the views of young people across our city region, and be guided by our excellent Youth Steering Group, so that every young person in Greater ԰�� can thrive.”

"This is just the start. It's encouraging to see wellbeing improving, but we are at the beginning of a long journey and we’re excited to see how things continue to improve,” said Daniel & Ayisha from the #BeeWell Youth Steering Group. “There are still worrying signs in the data, particularly in the inequalities we see. There are a lot of young people worried about these topics and a lot of work to be done. It's important young people are leading the next steps and actions following the results."

Newsroom University of ԰������

Feeling connected at school aids pupil mental health and attendance, study finds

Young people’s wellbeing is improving in Greater ԰������, major survey finds

Newsroom University of ԰��

Young people’s wellbeing is improving in Greater ԰��, major survey finds