879,000 children are unhappy at school because they find lessons boring
If sometimes / rarely / never happy at school, which of the following do you think are reasons for this?
They find lessons uninteresting
They struggle to make or maintain friendships
They feel socially isolated or left out at school
They struggle with learning
They feel what they are learning at school is not relevant to their future
They don’ t feel comfortable speaking up in class
Their special educational needs are not being met
They think they can self-learn / work better at home
They are currently being bullied
879,000( 42 %) 697,000( 34 %)
616,000( 30 %)
578,000( 28 %) 547,000( 26 %) 534,000( 26 %) 506,000( 24 %) 333,000( 16 %) 307,000( 15 %)
Sample: 5,866 parents in England( 3,391), Scotland( 1,309), Wales( 865) and Northern Ireland( 301) who have at least one child aged 4 to 18 in school. Base: All UK parents whose child is sometimes / rarely / never happy at school( 1,223)
• Eight out of ten children are happy at school most or all of the time
• One in five( 20 %) children are only sometimes, rarely or never happy at school, equivalent to two million unhappy children
• Children growing up in household with incomes under £ 20,000 are three times as likely to be unhappy at school than children in households with an income over £ 100,000( 29 % vs 10 %)
• 90 % of children in families with a household income over £ 100,000 are happy at school most or all of the time
A third( 34 %) of children with special educational needs are unhappy at school, compared to 1 in 7( 15 %) children without special educational needs
879,000 children are unhappy at school because they find lessons boring
42 THE NATIONAL PARENT SURVEY 2025