National behaviour
survey
Findings from Academic Year 2022/23
April 2024
1
Contents
Acknowledgements 3
Table of Figures 4
List of tables 6
Executive Summary 7
Findings 1: School behaviour culture and policy 7
Findings 2: School environment and experience 8
Findings 3: Prevalence and impact of misbehaviour 8
Findings 4: Responding to behaviour 9
Introduction 11
The objective of the NBS 11
Topics covered 11
Methodology 13
School and College Panel 13
Parent, Pupil and Learner Panel 15
Interpreting the findings 17
Data tables 18
Findings 1: School behaviour culture and policy 19
Understanding of behaviour policy 19
Ease of following rules 23
Consistency of application of behaviour policy 26
Visible leadership 27
Approach to managing behaviour 27
Use of data and pupil voice 30
Working with parents and pupils 32
Findings 2: School environment and experience 37
School environment and relationships 37
School belonging 44
School connectedness 46
Motivation to learn 47
2
Wellbeing 48
Findings 3: Frequency and impact of misbehaviour 51
Overall perception of pupil behaviour at school 52
Frequency and impact of misbehaviour 54
Bullying 60
Findings 4: Responding to behaviour 63
Confidence in managing pupil misbehaviour 63
Support and training 66
Interventions and targeted support 69
Teaching assistants 73
Annex 75
Methodology 75
3
Acknowledgements
This report brings together both new data and previously published data. Some drafting
in this report replicates previous publications and internal reports authored by both IFF
Research and Verian. The following authors are gratefully acknowledged for their
contribution to this report.
IFF Research: James Taylor, Aminul Hassan, Jacquie Collins.
Verian: Sarah Hingley, Emily Gaskell, John Morris, Charlotte Man, Eve Milne, Alex
Thornton, Sarah Vasic.
4
Table of Figures
Figure 1: Extent to which school leaders and teachers agree that there is a shared
understanding amongst staff of what good behaviour means (May 2023) ....................... 20
Figure 2: How well pupils thought their school explained the rules on behaviour at the
start of the academic year (May 2023 and June 2022) .................................................... 21
Figure 3: Extent to which school leaders and teachers agree that pupils understand what
will happen if they don’t meet the expected standards of pupil behaviour (May 2023) .... 22
Figure 4: Extent to which pupils agree that they understand what will happen if they don't
meet the expected standards of pupil behaviour (May 2023 and June 2022) .................. 23
Figure 5: How easy school leaders and teachers think it is for pupils to follow (in practice)
school rules on pupil behaviour (May 2023) .................................................................... 24
Figure 6: How easy pupils find it to follow school rules on behaviour (May 2023) ........... 25
Figure 7: Extent to which different activities or interventions form part of the school’s
approach to encourage positive pupil behaviour and minimise misbehaviour (May 2023)
......................................................................................................................................... 28
Figure 8: What pupils report schools do to recognise and reward good behaviour (May
2023) ............................................................................................................................... 30
Figure 9: Pupil confidence that their school will listen to or act on behaviour feedback
(May 2023) ....................................................................................................................... 32
Figure 10: School leader and teacher confidence in communicating with parents about
their child's behaviour (May 2023) ................................................................................... 33
Figure 11: Extent to which school leaders and teachers agree that parents are supportive
of the school’s behaviour rules (May 2023 and June 2022) ............................................. 35
Figure 12: Extent to which pupils and parents agree that they are supportive of the
school’s behaviour rules (May 2023 and June 2022) ....................................................... 36
Figure 13: Frequency of positive behaviour culture experiences in the past week (School
Leaders and Teachers, May 2023) .................................................................................. 39
Figure 14: Frequency of positive behaviour culture experiences in the past week (Pupils,
May 2023) ........................................................................................................................ 41
Figure 15: Frequency of positive behaviour culture experiences in the past week across
survey waves ................................................................................................................... 43
5
Figure 16: Frequency of feelings of enjoyment, safety and belonging at school in the past
week across survey waves (Pupils’ views) ...................................................................... 46
Figure 17: Pupils’ mean score for school connectedness (May 2023) ............................. 47
Figure 18: Ratings of pupil behaviour across survey waves ............................................ 53
Figure 19: Extent to which teachers felt misbehaviour stopped or interrupted teaching or
learning in the past week (May 2023) .............................................................................. 54
Figure 20: Extent to which pupil misbehaviour has had a negative impact on health and
wellbeing across survey waves (Leaders and teachers) .................................................. 60
Figure 21: School leader and teacher confidence in managing misbehaviour in school
across survey waves ....................................................................................................... 64
Figure 22: School leader and teacher confidence in addressing different types of bullying
at their school (May 2023) ............................................................................................... 66
Figure 23: Extent to which school teachers agree that the support they receive from
senior leaders helps them to effectively manage pupils with persistently disruptive
behaviour (May 2023) ...................................................................................................... 68
Figure 24: Interventions, if any, that the school provides where necessary to manage
behaviour (May 2023) ...................................................................................................... 71
Figure 25: School leaders' and teachers' views on timeliness of external specialist
support services (May 2023) ............................................................................................ 72
Figure 26: School leader and teacher views on the importance of teaching assistants in
managing and supporting pupil behaviour (May 2023) .................................................... 74
6
List of tables
Table 1: SCP survey waves achieved sample sizes ........................................................ 14
Table 2: SCP survey waves topic coverage and fieldwork dates ..................................... 14
Table 3: PPLP survey waves achieved sample sizes ...................................................... 16
Table 4: PPLP survey waves topic coverage and fieldwork dates ................................... 17
Table 5: Pupil wellbeing measures (May 2023) ............................................................... 49
Table 6: Frequency of types of pupil misbehaviour in the past week (secondary school
teacher views, May 2023) ................................................................................................ 58
Table 7: Frequency of types of pupil misbehaviour in the past week (pupil views, May
2023) ............................................................................................................................... 58
Table 8: Pupils' experience of being a victim of bullying in the past 12 months (May 2023)
......................................................................................................................................... 61
Table 9: Sampling error in the SCP NBS May 2023 wave ............................................... 76
7
Executive Summary
This report presents the findings from the National Behaviour Survey (NBS) Academic
Year 2022/23. The NBS is designed to provide the Department for Education with termly
survey data related to pupil behaviour in mainstream primary and secondary schools in
England collected from multiple respondent groups (school leaders, teachers, pupils and
parents/carers).
The NBS was delivered via multiple survey waves conducted through the Department for
Education’s omnibus panel surveys (the School and College Panel
1
(SCP) and the
Parent, Pupil and Learner Panel
2
(PPLP)) in November 2022, March 2023, May 2023
and June 2023.
The NBS survey has questions covering a range of topics related to pupil behaviour in
schools. This report is structured in line with these topics, with chapters containing
findings related to:
• School behaviour culture and policy
• School environment and experience
• Frequency and impact of misbehaviour
• Responding to behaviour
Key findings are given below. As in 2021/22, there was divergence between school
leaders, teachers and pupils on their responses to several survey questions relating to
school environment and misbehaviour; school leaders tended to give more positive
responses than teachers, who in turn tended to give more positive responses than pupils.
All survey findings have been compared with 2021/22 (June 2022 timepoint at a
minimum. Where findings have been shown to be statistically significantly different to
previous survey waves, this is commented upon in the text.
Findings 1: School behaviour culture and policy
Key findings include:
• In May 2023, the majority (81%) of school leaders and teachers agreed that there
was a shared understanding amongst staff in their school of what “good
behaviour” means.
1
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-and-college-panel-omnibus-surveys-for-2022-to-2023
2
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/parent-pupil-and-learner-panel-omnibus-surveys-for-2022-to-
2023
8
• In May 2023, the majority of pupils (85%) agreed that they knew how their school
expected them to behave. This is a decrease from 91% in June 2022.
• Almost all school leaders and teachers (98%) reported that rules on behaviour
were applied fairly to pupils at least some of the time (May 2023). However, only
38% of school leaders and 19% of teachers reported this happened ‘all of the
time’. Overall, 89% of pupils reported rules were applied fairly to all pupils at least
some of the time, with 18% reporting this happened ‘all of the time’.
• Overall, 60% of school leaders and teachers agreed that parents are supportive of
the school’s behaviour rules. School leaders were more likely than teachers to
agree parents are supportive of the school's behaviour rules (71% vs 58%).
• Compared with June 2022, the proportion of school leaders and teachers that
disagreed that parents were generally supportive of the school’s behaviour rules
increased from 15% in June 2022 to 20% in May 2023.
Findings 2: School environment and experience
Key findings include:
• In May 2023, 84% of school leaders reported that their school had been calm and
orderly ‘every day’ or ‘most days’ in the past week (versus 59% of teachers). For
pupils, 54% reported that their school had been calm and orderly ‘every day’ or
‘most days’ in the past week. Comparing across survey waves, for school leaders
and teachers this is a decrease from 92% and 70% respectively in June 2022.
• In May 2023, 11% of pupils said that they had enjoyed coming to school ‘every
day’ in the past week, whilst 17% said that they had ‘never’ enjoyed coming to
school in the past week. Comparing across survey waves, the proportion of pupils
reporting that they had enjoyed coming to school ‘every day’ has decreased from
15% in June 2022.
• When asked how often they felt safe at school, 39% of all pupils said that they had
felt safe at school ‘every day’ in the past week in May 2023.
• In May 2023, 71% of pupils felt they were motivated to learn, with 17% who said
that they were ‘very motivated’ and 54% who said they were ‘fairly motivated’.
Findings 3: Prevalence and impact of misbehaviour
Key findings include:
• In May 2023, 82% of school leaders reported that pupil behaviour was either ‘very
good’ or ‘good’ in the past week (versus 55% of teachers). For pupils, 43% said
9
that behaviour had been ‘very good’ or ‘good’ in the past week. Comparing across
survey waves, this is a decrease for all groups compared to June 2022.
• In May 2023, 76% of teachers reported that misbehaviour stopped or interrupted
teaching in at least some lessons in the past week. Comparing across survey
waves, this is an increase from 64% in June 2022.
• On average, in May 2023, teachers reported that for every 30 minutes of lesson
time, 7 minutes were lost due to misbehaviour. This is an increase of 1.5 minutes
from March 2023, when teachers reported that 5.5 minutes were lost per 30
minutes, but is similar to June 2022 when 6.3 minutes were reported to be lost.
• In May 2023, 58% of teachers reported that between 1 to 10 minutes of time were
lost due to misbehaviour per 30 minutes of teaching time. Comparing across
survey waves, the proportion of teachers reporting that more than 10 minutes of
teaching time was lost due to pupil misbehaviour per 30 minutes of lesson time
increased from 10% in June 2022 and March 2023 to 25% in May 2023.
• In May 2023, 73% of school leaders and teachers reported that pupil misbehaviour
had had a negative impact on their health and wellbeing to any extent in the past
week: of these, 12% reported it ‘to a great extent’, 31% ‘to some extent’, and 30%
‘to a small extent’.
• Overall, 22% of pupils said that they had been a victim of bullying for any reason
in the past 12 months. Among pupils who reported that they had been bullied, the
most common perceived reason reported for being bullied was the way they
looked (40% for those bullied in person; 32% for those bullied online).
Findings 4: Responding to behaviour
Key findings include:
• In May 2023, 92% of school leaders and teachers felt at least fairly confident in
personally managing misbehaviour in their school, with 39% feeling ‘very
confident’. School leaders were more likely than teachers to report being ‘very
confident’ in managing misbehaviour (66% vs. 35%). Compared with March 2023,
the proportion of school leaders and teachers reporting being ‘very confident’ has
decreased (from 80% to 66% for leaders; from 47% to 35% for teachers).
• Just under a third of school teachers (31%) and just over a fifth of school leaders
(22%) felt they could not personally access training and development support for
behaviour management relevant to their experience and needs.
• In May 2023, the interventions most commonly used by schools to manage
behaviour were referrals to specialist services (89%) and targeted interventions
such as mentoring and social/emotional learning (88%). These were followed by
10
removal from the classroom as a restorative measure (80%) and by the
involvement of specialised pastoral support staff (76%).
• In May 2023, 18% of school leaders and teachers reported that any external
specialist support provided to manage behaviour was timely (3% ‘very timely’ and
16% ‘fairly timely’) while 52% reported it was not timely (26% ‘not very timely’ and
27% ‘not timely at all’).
11
Introduction
This report presents findings from the National Behaviour Survey (NBS) Academic Year
2022/23. The NBS was delivered via the Department for Education’s omnibus surveys:
the School and College Panel (SCP) and the Parent, Pupil and Learner Panel (PPLP).
This report presents findings from multiple survey waves (7 in total) conducted in
November 2022, March 2023, May 2023 and June 2023.
3
The objective of the NBS
Creating a school culture with high expectations of behaviour is a priority for the
Government. Establishing calm, safe and supportive environments conducive to teaching
benefits both school staff and pupils. No pupil should miss out on education because
they feel unsafe, miss out on learning because their lesson is disrupted, or fall behind
because their needs are not identified and supported.
The NBS is designed to provide the Department for Education (DfE) with a tool to monitor
pupil behaviour in mainstream primary and secondary schools, allowing the department
and wider stakeholders to track perceptions of behaviour over time in a consistent
manner. The termly survey data is collected from multiple respondent groups (school
leaders, teachers, pupils and parents
4
) to allow for triangulation of views and is weighted
to be nationally representative of teachers, schools and pupils (for England).
5
Understanding concerns related to pupil behaviour and engagement is a priority for DfE.
The regular survey data provides evidence to build on our programme of work to support
school leaders and teachers in managing pupil behaviour and to create a positive culture,
including delivery of the £10 million Behaviour Hubs programme.
Topics covered
The NBS survey has questions covering a range of topics related to pupil behaviour in
schools. This report is structured in line with these topics, with chapters containing
findings related to:
3
Data from previous survey waves in November 2022, March 2023, and June 2023 have previously been
published in the omnibus panels survey reports: School and college panel: omnibus surveys for 2022 to
2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and Parent, pupil and learner panel omnibus surveys for 2022 to 2023 -
GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
4
Where the report uses the term ‘parents’ this is inclusive of parents and carers with parental
responsibility.
5
Leader data are weighted to either schools or teachers depending on the question asked and the parent
data are weighted to pupils (see Methodology section).
12
• School behaviour culture and policy
• School environment and experience
• Frequency and impact of misbehaviour
• Responding to behaviour
13
Methodology
The National Behaviour Survey for the Academic Year 2022/23 was delivered via the
Department for Education’s omnibus panels, the School and College Panel (SCP) and
the Parent, Pupil and Learner Panel (PPLP), in November 2022, March 2023, May 2023
and June 2023. Technical reports have been published for both the SCP
6
and PPLP
7
where further detail on methodology can be found.
The SCP is a survey panel of mainstream school leaders and teachers and the PPLP is a
survey panel of parents, pupils and learners. Both panels have been designed to provide
rapid feedback to the Department for Education on topical educational issues.
School and College Panel
The SCP consists of a group of school leaders
8
and teachers that have agreed to
participate in short regular research surveys on topical education issues. The panellists
for the survey work in the 2022/23 academic year were comprised of existing panellists
that had taken part in the 2021/22 academic year, plus new panellists recruited in
September 2022. All school leaders and teachers were recruited from School Workforce
Census data provided by the Department for Education.
Three SCP survey waves were used to deliver the NBS – 1 in November 2022, 1 in
March 2023 and 1 in May 2023.
The surveys were administered online, with respondents receiving an email invite and
two reminder emails, along with a reminder SMS text. Achieved sample sizes are given
in Table 1.
6
School and College Panel Technical Report 2022 to 2023 academic year (publishing.service.gov.uk)
7
Parent, Pupil and Learner Panel Technical Report (publishing.service.gov.uk)
8
The school leader types for inclusion in the survey were: headteacher, assistant headteacher and deputy
headteacher.
14
Table 1: SCP survey waves achieved sample sizes
Primary
school
Leaders
Secondary
school
Leaders
Total
school
Leaders
Primary
school
Teachers
Secondary
school
Teachers
Total
school
Teachers
SCP
November
2022
wave
a
429
288
717
655
693
1,348
SCP
March
b
2023 wave
311 218 529 1,073 1,157 2,230
SCP NBS
May 2023
wave
c
447 333 780 668 810 1,478
a
Data is for Panel A school leaders and teachers. Whilst college leaders and teachers were included in the
full SCP Nov 2022 wave, the NBS questions in this report were asked of Panel A school leaders and
teachers only.
b
Data is for Panel A school leaders. Whilst college leaders and teachers were included in the full SCP
March 2023 wave, the NBS questions in this report were asked of Panel A school leaders only and all
school teachers.
c
Only leaders and teachers from primary and secondary schools were invited to take part in the NBS May
2023 survey wave.
The surveys’ topic coverage was either specific to behaviour or included a range of topics
of relevance to the wider department. Topic coverage and fieldwork dates are given in
Table 2.
Table 2: SCP survey waves topic coverage and fieldwork dates
Survey topics Fieldwork dates
SCP November 2022
wave
Variety of topics, including
behaviour
7
th
– 14
th
November 2022
SCP March 2023 wave
Variety of topics, including
behaviour
20
th
- 28
th
March 2023
SCP NBS May 2023
wave
Behaviour only 22
nd
- 31
st
May 2023
15
SCP weighting
Two types of weighting were applied to school leader data, depending on whether
questions were asking for school-level or individual-level answers from these
respondents. All school teacher data was weighted to individual-level.
School-level weighting:
• At the analysis stage, for questions reported at the school-level, school leaders’
data was grossed up to the overall population of schools. This process corrects for
the over-sampling of secondary schools (relative to the proportion of the popula-
tion that they represent) so that the findings are representative of all (in scope)
state-funded schools.
• The population data for weighting was drawn from Get Information about Schools
(GIAS).
9
Individual-level weighting:
• For the analysis on an individual rather than school-level, the responses from
school leaders and classroom teachers were combined and weighted together to
the overall population of school leaders and teachers.
• The population data for the individual weighting was taken from the Schools Work-
force Census based on November 2020 data (the most recent available at the
time of fieldwork and analysis).
Parent, Pupil and Learner Panel
The PPLP consisted of:
• pupils in years 7-11 in the 2022/23 academic year (sampled from the National
Pupil Database (NPD) using 2021/22 data).
• pupils and learners in years 12-13 in the 2022/23 academic year (sampled from
the NPD and Individualised Learner Record (ILR) using 2021/22 data).
• parents of pupils in years 1-11 in the 2022/23 academic year (sampled from the
NPD using 2021/22 data).
9
Get Information about Schools - GOV.UK (get-information-schools.service.gov.uk) GIAS is the
Department for Education’s register for several educational organisation types.
16
Four PPLP survey waves were used to deliver the NBS – 1 in November 2022, 1 in
March 2023, 1 in May 2023 and 1 in June 2023.
Table 3 shows the total number of respondents participating in the PPLP survey waves.
The NBS reporting only covers pupils and parents from primary and secondary schools;
colleges are not included in the reporting.
Parents and pupils on the panel were invited to take part in a 10-minute online survey by
email and SMS. A reminder email was sent on day three and five of fieldwork.
Table 3: PPLP survey waves achieved sample sizes
Secondary
Pupils (years
7-11)
Primary
Parents (years
1-6)
Secondary
Parents (years
7-11)
Total Parents
(years 1-11)
PPLP
November
2022 wave
2,245 1,468 1,508 2,976
PPLP March
2023 wave
a
2,978 2,382 2,186 4,568
PPLP NBS
May 2023
wave
b
2,521 NA NA NA
PPLP June
2023 wave
NA 1,678 1,616 3,294
a
Although year 12 and 13 secondary pupils and college learners were included in the full PPLP
March/April 2023 wave, the NBS questions in this report were asked of year 7-11 pupils only.
b
The PPLP NBS May 2023 wave included years 12 and 13. If including just years 7-11, number of
secondary pupils in this wave is 2,126.
The surveys’ topic coverage was either specific to behaviour or included a range of topics
of relevance to the wider department. Topic coverage and fieldwork dates are given in
Table 4 below.
17
Table 4: PPLP survey waves topic coverage and fieldwork dates
Topics Fieldwork dates
PPLP Nov 2022
wave
Variety of topics, including
behaviour
9
th
- 14
th
November 2022
PPLP March
2023 wave
Variety of topics, including
behaviour
22
nd
- 27
th
March 2023
PPLP NBS May
2023 wave
Behaviour only
17
th
– 22
nd
May 2023
PPLP June
2023 wave
Variety of topics, including
behaviour
21
st
– 27
th
June 2023
PPLP weighting
Only a subset of the original panel of parents and secondary aged pupils and learners
took part in each subsequent wave of the survey; however, at each wave, results were
weighted to be representative of pupils in mainstream state schools in England.
Weighting was based on characteristics of the pupils only, as the NPD does not hold
information about parents. As such, the parent survey responses are weighted based on
the characteristics of their child that was sampled from the NPD.
Interpreting the findings
Where school leader responses are weighted to school-level, these findings are reported
as a percentage of schools. Where school leader data is weighted to individual-level,
these findings are reported as a percentage of school leaders.
For all questions, comparisons have been made between the NBS May 2023 and the
NBS June 2022 waves (the last time that all questions were asked).
10
For survey
questions that are asked each term, NBS May 2023 data may additionally be compared
with the last time the question was asked (March 2023 or November 2022 waves).
Differences between respondent sub-groups and between waves are only commented on
in the text however if they are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level i.e.
statistically we can be 95% confident that the differences are ‘real’ differences (and not a
result of the fact that the findings are based on samples of the respondent groups rather
10
The NBS June 2022 surveys took place between 13th June and 4
th
July 2022, at a slightly later point in
the academic year to the NBS May 2023 survey.
18
than a census of all respondent groups). Statistically significant differences between
survey waves have been noted in the report text.
Due to rounding to the nearest whole number, percentages may not total to exactly 100%
or precisely reflect statistics provided in the data tables.
Where averages are referred to in the text, this is the mean average, unless otherwise
stated.
Data tables
An accompanying set of data tables have been published alongside this report. They
include statistical testing, total responses and more detailed responses by key subgroups
by each data set (so contain further statistically significant differences between key
subgroups that are not commented upon in this report, which covers headline findings
only). For further guidance on how to interpret these tables, please see the covering
pages of the data tables.
19
Findings 1: School behaviour culture and policy
Understanding of behaviour policy
School leaders, teachers and pupils were asked a set of questions to explore their
perception of their school’s behaviour culture and understanding of their school’s
behaviour policy. These questions were asked in May 2023.
Shared understanding of what good behaviour means
School leaders and teachers were asked about the shared understanding amongst staff
of what was meant by “good behaviour”. The majority (81%) of school leaders and
teachers agreed that there was a shared understanding amongst staff in their school of
what “good behaviour” means. As shown in Figure 1, school leaders were more likely
than teachers to agree there is this shared understanding (88% vs. 79% respectively).
Primary school teachers were more likely than secondary school teachers to agree that
there is a shared understanding amongst staff of what “good behaviour” means (84% vs.
75%).
Key findings:
• In May 2023, the majority (81%) of school leaders and teachers agreed that
there was a shared understanding amongst staff in their school of what “good
behaviour” means.
• In May 2023, the majority of pupils (85%) agreed that they knew how their
school expected them to behave. This is a decrease from 91% in June 2022.
• Almost all school leaders and teachers (98%) reported that rules on behaviour
were applied fairly to pupils at least some of the time (May 2023). However,
only 38% of school leaders and 19% of teachers reported this happened ‘all of
the time’. Overall, 89% of pupils reported rules were applied fairly to all pupils at
least some of the time, with 18% reporting this happened ‘all of the time’.
• Overall, 60% of school leaders and teachers agreed that parents are supportive
of the school’s behaviour rules. School leaders were more likely than teachers
to agree parents are supportive of the school's behaviour rules (71% vs 58%).
• Compared with June 2022, the proportion of school leaders and teachers that
disagreed that parents were generally supportive of the school’s behaviour
rules increased from 15% in June 2022 to 20% in May 2023.
20
Figure 1: Extent to which school leaders and teachers agree that there is a shared
understanding amongst staff of what good behaviour means (May 2023)
Base: All leaders (n=780) and all teachers (n=1,478).
Source: SCP NBS May 2023. Individual weighting. * Indicates a significant difference between leaders and
teachers. ‘Don’t know’ responses (<1% total) not charted. Totals do not match chart exactly due to
rounding. “To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement: At my school there is a
shared understanding amongst staff of what is meant by good behaviour.”
Explanation of school rules
Pupils were asked how well their school explained the rules on behaviour at the start of
the academic year. In May 2023, 77% of pupils said that the school had explained the
rules well, of which 30% said the rules were explained ‘very well’ and 47% said they were
explained ‘fairly well’. Conversely, 12% of pupils said that the school had explained the
rules ‘not very well’ and 2% said the school had explained the rules ‘not well at all’ (5%
said that the rules had not been explained to them at all and 3% responded ‘don’t know’).
Pupils in year 7 (84%) were more likely than pupils in year 9 (75%), years 10-11 (75%)
and years 12-13 (72%) to say that the school had explained the rules well.
Compared with June 2022, the proportion of pupils who said that their school explained
the rules on behaviour well decreased from 84% in June 2022 to 77% in May 2023 (see
Figure 2). In particular, the proportion of pupils who said their school explained the rules
on behaviour ‘very well’ fell from 36% in June 2022 to 30% in May 2023.
36
%
52%*
34%
44%
36%
46%*
5%
1%
6%*
10%
4%
11%*
4%
7%*
4%
All leaders and
teachers
Leaders
Teachers
Strongly agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree
Total:
Agree
88%*
79%
81%
Total:
Disagree
11%
15
%*
14%
21
Figure 2: How well pupils thought their school explained the rules on behaviour at
the start of the academic year (May 2023 and June 2022)
Base: May 2023 - all pupils year 7-13 (n=2,521). June 2022 – all pupils year 7-13 (n=1,908)
Source: PPLP NBS May 2023. * Indicates a significant difference between timepoints. Totals do not match
chart exactly due to rounding. “At the start of this academic year, how well did your school explain the rules
on behaviour?”
Expectations of behaviour
Pupils were asked to what extent they agreed or disagreed with the following statement:
“I know how my school expects me to behave”. The majority of pupils (85%) agreed with
this statement, of which 35% responded ‘strongly agree’ and 50% ‘agree’. Just 2% of
pupils disagreed with this statement, while 10% responded ‘neither agree nor disagree’
and 2% ‘don’t know’. The proportion of pupils who agreed with this statement has
decreased from 91% in June 2022 to 85% in May 2023.
School leaders and teachers were asked about pupils’ understanding of what will happen
if they didn’t meet the expected standards of behaviour, and pupils were asked about
their own understanding of what would happen if they didn’t meet the expected standards
of behaviour.
For school leaders and teachers, 78% agreed that pupils understand what will happen if
they do not meet expected standards of pupil behaviour (of which 29% responded
‘strongly agree’ and 49% ‘agree’). School leaders were more likely than teachers to feel
that pupils understand what will happen if they do not meet the expected standards of
behaviour (93% vs. 76%; see Figure 3).
36%*
30%
48%
47%
8%
12%
1%
2%
4%
5%
3%
3%
All pupils June 2022
All pupils May 2023
Very well Fairly well Not very well Not well at all They weren't explained to me Don't know
Total:
Explained
well
84%*
77%
Total: Not
explained
well
9%*
15
%
22
Figure 3: Extent to which school leaders and teachers agree that pupils
understand what will happen if they don’t meet the expected standards of pupil
behaviour (May 2023)
Base: All leaders (n=780) and all teachers (n=1,478).
Source: SCP NBS May 2023. Individual weighting. * Indicates a significant difference between leaders and
teachers. ‘Don’t know’ responses (<1% total) not charted. “To what extent do you agree or disagree with
the following statement: Pupils understand what will happen if they don’t meet the expected standards of
behaviour.”
For pupils, 83% agreed that “I understand what will happen if I don’t meet the expected
standards of behaviour” (32% responded ‘strongly agree’ and 51% ‘agree’). As shown in
Figure 4, 4% of pupils said they disagreed with this statement (of which 3% responded
‘disagree’ and 1% ‘strongly disagree’), 10% said they neither agreed nor disagreed, and
2% reported ‘don’t know’.
Compared with June 2022, the proportion of pupils who agreed that they understand
what will happen if they don’t meet the expected standards of behaviour has decreased
from 87% in June 2022 to 83% in May 2023.
93%*
76%
78%
Total
:
Agree
29%
46%*
26%
49%
47%
50%
9%
4%
9%*
10%
2%
12%*
3%
1%
3%*
All leaders
and teachers
Leaders
Teachers
Strongly agree Agree
Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree
3%
15%*
13
%
Total
:
Disagree
23
Figure 4: Extent to which pupils agree that they understand what will happen if
they don't meet the expected standards of pupil behaviour (May 2023 and June
2022)
Base: May 2023 - all pupils year 7-13 (n=2,521). June 2022 – all pupils year 7-13 (n=1,908).
Source: PPLP NBS May 2023. ^ Indicates a significant difference between timepoints. ‘Don’t know’ (≤2%
of the total) and ‘Prefer not to say’ (≤1% of the total) not charted. “To what extent do you agree or disagree
with the following statements…. – I understand what will happen if I don’t meet the expected standards of
behaviour.”
Parents were asked to what extent they agreed with the statement “[Pupil] understands
what will happen if they don’t meet the expected standards of behaviour”. Overall, 92% of
parents agreed that their child understands what will happen if they don't meet the
expected standards of behaviour (of which 53% responded ‘strongly agree’ and 39%
‘agree’), while 2% disagreed and 1% responded ‘don’t know’. Parents of secondary-aged
pupils were more likely than parents of primary-aged pupils to agree with this statement
(94% vs. 91%).
Ease of following rules
School leaders, teachers, pupils and parents were asked questions about how easy it
was for pupils to understand and follow the school’s rules on behaviour. These questions
were asked in May 2023.
37%^
32%
50%
51%
7%
10%
3%
3%
1%
1%
All pupils June 2022
All pupils May 2023
Strongly agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree
Total:
Agree
87%^
83%
Total
:
Disagree
4%
4
%
24
The majority (92%) of school leaders and teachers reported that it was easy for pupils to
understand the school’s rules on behaviour (of which 64% thought it was ‘very easy’ and
29% ‘fairly easy’). School leaders were more likely than teachers to say that it was easy
for pupils to understand the school’s rules (99% vs. 91%) and more likely to say it was
‘very easy’ (77% vs. 61%). Teachers were more likely than school leaders to say that it
was not easy (8% vs. 1% respectively).
Primary school teachers were more likely than secondary school teachers to report that
school rules were easy for their pupils to understand (94% vs. 89%), whilst primary
school leaders were more likely than secondary school leaders to say school rules were
‘very easy’ for pupils to understand (81% vs. 69%).
School leaders and teachers were then asked how easy it was for pupils to follow the
school’s rules on behaviour in practice. As shown in Figure 5, 86% of school leaders and
teachers thought this was easy for pupils. In a similar pattern to understanding rules,
school leaders were more likely than teachers to say it was easy for pupils to follow the
rules (94% vs. 85%) and to think it ‘very easy’ (56% vs. 45%).
Primary school teachers were more likely than secondary school teachers to report that
school rules were easy for their pupils to follow (90% vs. 81%).
Figure 5: How easy school leaders and teachers think it is for pupils to follow (in
practice) school rules on pupil behaviour (May 2023)
Base: All leaders (n=780) and teachers (n=1,478).
Source: SCP NBS May 2023. Individual weighting. * Indicates a significant difference between leaders and
teachers. ‘Don’t know’ responses (<1% total) not charted. Totals do not match chart exactly due to
rounding. “How easy, if at all, do you think it is for pupils to follow (in practice) your school’s rules on pupil
behaviour?”
46%
56%*
45%
40%
38%
40%
11%
6%
12
%
*
2%
1%
2%*
All leaders and
teachers
Leaders
Teachers
Very easy Fairly easy Not very easy Not easy at all
Total:
Easy
94%*
85%
86%
Total:
Not easy
6%
15%*
13%
25
When pupils were asked “how easy are your school’s rules on behaviour to follow?”, 82%
of all pupils said that their school's rules on behaviour are easy to follow, of which 29%
said they are ‘very easy’ to follow and 53% said they are ‘fairly easy’ to follow. As shown
in Figure 6, 16% of all pupils said that the school’s rules are not easy to follow (12% ‘not
very easy’ and 4% ‘not easy at all’) and 2% reported ‘don’t know’.
Pupils in years 12-13 (90%) were more likely than pupils in years 7-9 (81%) and years
10-11 (80%) to say that their school's rules on behaviour are easy to follow. Pupils in
year 9 (20%) and year 10 (20%) were more likely than pupils in year 7 (13%) and years
12-13 (8%) to say that the rules are not easy to follow.
Compared with June 2022, the proportion of pupils who said that their school’s rules are
‘very easy’ to follow has fallen from 33% in June 2022 to 29% in May 2023.
Figure 6: How easy pupils find it to follow school rules on behaviour (May 2023)
Base: All pupils year 7-13 (n=2,521), year 7 pupils (n=412), year 8 pupils (n=414), year 9 pupils (n=433),
year 10 pupils (n=423), year 11 pupils (n=444), year 12 pupils (n=227), year 13 pupils (n=168).
Source: PPLP NBS May 2023. ^ Indicates a significant difference compared to all years except 7 and 12. *
Indicates a significant difference to years 7 and 12-13. Totals do not match chart exactly due to rounding.
“How easy are your school’s rules on behaviour to follow?”
29%
35%
29%
26%
22%
29%
32%
42%^
53%
50%
51%
52%
56%
53%
56%
50%
12%
10%
14%
15%
15%
11%
9%
6%
4%
3%
3%
5%
5%
5%
1%
2%
1%
2%
2%
2%
2%
2%
1%
All pupils
Ye ar 7 pupils
Ye ar 8 pupils
Ye ar 9 pupils
Ye ar 10 pupils
Ye ar 11 pupils
Ye ar 12 pupils
Ye ar
13
pupils
Very easy
Fairly easy Not very easy Not easy at all Don't know
Total
: Easy
85%
82
%
81%
78%
78%
82%
88%
93%
Total: Not easy
13%
16%
17%
20%*
20%*
16%
10%
7%
26
Parents were also asked “how easy does [Pupil] find their school’s rules on behaviour to
follow?” Overall, 89% of parents said that their child found it easy to follow the school's
rules on behaviour, including 57% who said their child found it ‘very easy’ to follow the
rules and 33% who said they found it ‘fairly easy’. Around one in ten parents (9%) said
their child did not find it easy to follow the school’s rules (7% ‘not very easy’ and 3% ‘not
easy at all’). Compared to June 2022, the proportion of parents who said that their child
found it easy to follow the school's rules on behaviour has decreased from 92% in June
2022 to 89% in May 2023.
Consistency of application of behaviour policy
School leaders, teachers and pupils were asked how often the school’s rules on
behaviour are applied fairly to all pupils. These questions were asked in May 2023.
Almost all school leaders and teachers (98%) reported that rules on behaviour were
applied fairly to pupils at least some of the time (with 21% reporting this happened ‘all of
the time’, 57% ‘most of the time’, and 20% ‘some of the time’). Only 1% of school leaders
and teachers indicated that rules on behaviour were ‘never’ applied fairly to all pupils.
Whilst school leaders and teachers agreed that behaviour rules were applied fairly at
least some of the time (100% and 98% respectively), school leaders were more likely
than teachers to report that the rules were applied fairly ‘all of the time’ (38% vs. 19%).
The proportion of teachers who felt that rules were applied fairly to pupils ‘all of the time’
was lower than recorded in 2022 (23%, a drop of 4 percentage points).
Primary school teachers were more likely than secondary school teachers to report that
rules were applied fairly ‘all of the time’ (27% vs. 11%). The same pattern was true
amongst school leaders; primary school leaders were more likely than secondary school
leaders to say rules were applied fairly ‘all of the time’ (46% vs. 24%).
In May 2023, the majority of pupils (89%) thought rules were applied fairly to all pupils at
least some of the time, although only around a fifth (18%) thought this was the case ‘all of
the time’ (44% said they were applied fairly ‘most of the time’ and 27% ‘some of the
time’). Seven per cent of pupils said the school’s rules on behaviour were ‘never’ applied
fairly to all pupils, and 4% responded ‘don’t know’.
When comparing only secondary school leaders and teachers with pupils on responses
to this question in May 2023:
• Secondary school leaders (24%) and pupils (18%) were more likely than
secondary school teachers (11%) to say that the rules on behaviour were applied
fairly to all pupils ‘all of the time’.
27
• Secondary school leaders (66%) and secondary school teachers (59%) were more
likely than pupils (44%) to say the rules on behaviour were applied fairly to all
pupils ‘most of the time’.
• Pupils (7%) were more likely than secondary school teachers (2%) to say that the
rules on behaviour were ‘never’ applied fairly to all pupils (no secondary school
leaders responded ‘never’ to this question).
Visible leadership
School teachers and pupils were asked questions relating to the visibility of the school
leadership team and how often they typically see members of the school leadership team
around the school. These questions were asked in May 2023.
Almost all school teachers (97%) reported seeing members of the school leadership
team around the school at least some days. Half (51%) said they see them ‘every day’,
while around a quarter see them ‘most days’ (23%) or ‘some days’ (23%) and just 3%
stated that they never see members of the school leadership team. This is consistent
with findings from 2022.
For pupils, nearly all pupils (93%) reported seeing members of the school leadership
team around school at least some days; of which 37% said they see them ‘every day’,
33% said they see them ‘most days’ and 23% said they see them ‘some days’. Three per
cent of pupils said they ‘never’ see the school leadership team around school.
Compared with June 2022, the proportion of pupils who said they typically see members
of the school leadership team around school ‘every day’ or ‘most days’ has decreased
from 74% in June 2022 to 70% in May 2023.
When comparing only secondary school teachers with pupils on responses to this
question in May 2023:
• Secondary school teachers (46%) were more likely than pupils (37%) to report
seeing members of the school leadership team around the school ‘every day’.
• Pupils (33%) were more likely than secondary school teachers (24%) to report
seeing members of the school leadership team around the school ‘most days’.
Approach to managing behaviour
School leaders and pupils were asked questions about the school’s approach to
encouraging positive pupil behaviour. These questions were asked in May 2023.
28
School leaders were asked a set of questions to understand the extent to which different
activities or interventions (from a prompted list) formed part of their school’s approach to
encourage positive pupil behaviour and minimise misbehaviour. As shown in Figure 7, all
the activities or interventions were widely used by schools in May 2023, with 99% of
school leaders reporting ‘staff building supportive relationships with pupils’, ‘staff
modelling positive relationships and expected behaviour’, and ‘understanding and
responding to pupils’ needs’ to at least some extent. A high proportion of school leaders
also reported ‘setting a whole-school approach to behaviour’ (98%), ‘recognising and
rewarding positive behaviour’ (97%), ‘teaching of generic routines to help manage pupil
behaviour’ (96%) and ‘providing appropriate early intervention to pupils who require
additional support with their behaviour’ (94%) to at least some extent. The use of
‘sanctions in response to misbehaviour’ was least commonly used, but still used to at
least some extent by 86% of schools.
Figure 7: Extent to which different activities or interventions form part of the
school’s approach to encourage positive pupil behaviour and minimise
misbehaviour (May 2023)
Base: All leaders (n=780).
Source: SCP NBS May 2023. Schools weighting. ‘Not at all‘ (<1% total) and ‘Don’t know’ responses (<1%
total) not charted. Totals do not match chart exactly due to rounding. “To what extent do the following
elements form part of your school’s approach to encourage positive pupil behaviour and minimise
misbehaviour?”
90%
85%
84%
84%
81%
68%
64%
43%
9%
15%
15%
14%
15%
28%
30%
43%
1%
1%
1%
1%
3%
3%
5%
14%
Staff building supportive
relationships with pupils
Staff modelling positive relationships
and expected behaviour
Understanding and responding
to pupils' needs
Setting a whole-school
approach to behaviour
Recognising and rewarding
positive behaviour
Teaching of generic routines to
help manage pupil behaviour
Providing appropriate early intervention to
pupils who require additional
support with their behaviour
Sanctions in response to misbehaviour
To a great extent To some extent To a small extent
Total: At least
some extent
99%
99%
99%
98%
97%
96%
94%
86%
29
Primary schools were more likely than secondary schools to have adopted the following
interventions to at least some extent:
• Staff modelling positive relationships and expected behaviour (100% vs. 97%)
• Setting a whole school approach (99% vs. 95%)
• Teaching of generic routines to help manage pupil behaviour (97% vs. 90%)
• Providing appropriate early intervention to pupils who require additional support
with their behaviour (96% vs. 86%)
Conversely, secondary schools were more likely than primary schools to have adopted
sanctions in response to misbehaviour (96% vs. 83%).
At the same time, pupils were asked what their school does to recognise or reward good
behaviour, answering from a list presenting six options.
11
As shown in Figure 8, 72% of pupils said that their school uses a behavioural points
system (for example, house points, merits or stickers), 56% said that the school uses
prize ceremonies or special assemblies, while 54% selected verbal praise. Just under
half of pupils (44%) said that the school communicates praise to parents via phone calls
or written correspondence.
Less commonly reported approaches included whole class or year group rewards such
as a popular activity (23%) and positions of responsibility, such as being a prefect (22%).
A small proportion of pupils (4%) said that their school does not recognise or reward
pupils for good behaviour, while 5% did not know what their school did.
Pupils in years 7-9 and 10-11 were more likely than pupils in years 12-13 to say that the
school uses a behavioural points system (74% vs. 59%). Pupils in years 12 to 13 were
more likely than pupils in years 7-9 to say their school uses verbal praise (61% vs. 50%)
and positions of responsibility (32% vs. 18%).
11
Pupils could select multiple response options to this question.
30
Figure 8: What pupils report schools do to recognise and reward good behaviour
(May 2023)
Base: All pupils year 7-13 (n=2,521), year 7 pupils (n=412), year 8 pupils (n=414), year 9 pupils (n=433),
year 10 pupils (n=423), year 11 pupils (n=444), year 12 pupils (n=227), year 13 pupils (n=168).
Source: PPLP NBS May 2023. * Indicates a significant difference compared to years 12-13. “Which of the
following, if any, does your school use to recognise/reward good behaviour at the school?”
Use of data and pupil voice
School leaders and pupils were asked questions to explore the use of data and pupil
feedback on behaviour. These questions were asked in May 2023.
72%
56%
54%
44%
23%
22%
4%
5%
74%*
54%
50%*
44%
23%
18%*
2%
5%
74%*
58%
57%
46%
24%
27%
4%
4%
59%
56%
61%
40%
19%
32%
6%
4%
Behavioural points system
Certificates, prize ceremonies
or special assemblies
Verbal praise
Communicating praise to parents
Whole-class or year group rewards
Positions of responsibility, such as
being a prefect
My school doesn't recognise or
reward pupils for good behaviour
Don't know
All pupils
Ye ar s 7-
9
Ye ar s 10
-11
Ye ar s 12-13
31
School leaders were asked two questions about the recording and use of data on pupils’
behaviour: whether their school systematically records
12
data on pupil behaviour and
whether data on pupil behaviour is used to inform the school’s approach to managing
pupil behaviour.
The vast majority (93%) of schools reported systematically recording data on pupil
behaviour. Four per cent of schools reported that they did not record data but had plans
to do so, 1% reported they currently do not record it but have done so previously, and 2%
did not record it and had no plans to do so.
Systematic recording of data on pupil behaviour was slightly more common among
secondary schools than primary schools (98% vs 92%), though 5% of primary schools
claimed they had plans to record this type of data in the future.
When asked about the use of data, 84% of schools reported using data to inform their
approach to managing pupil behaviour, while 12% of schools did not (4% responded
‘don’t know’). Secondary schools were more likely to use data to inform the school’s
approach to managing pupil behaviour than primary schools (92% vs 82%).
Almost three-quarters of schools (73%) also agreed that pupils’ feedback is taken into
account when reviewing their behaviour policy or approach (of which 20% responded
‘strongly agree’ and 53% ‘agree’) whilst 10% disagreed that this was the case (of which
8% responded ‘disagree’ and 1% ‘strongly disagree’) and 17% neither agreed nor
disagreed.
Pupils were also asked questions in May 2023 about the seeking of feedback on
behaviour, and confidence that any feedback would be utilised.
Overall, 27% of pupils said that their school asks pupils for feedback about behaviour in
their school, whilst 45% said that their school does not do this and 29% did not know.
Compared with June 2022, the proportion of pupils who said their school asks for
feedback on behaviour has increased from 24% in June 2022 to 27% in May 2023.
When asked about their confidence in the school acting on any feedback about
behaviour, 40% of pupils said that they were confident that any feedback they may give
regarding behaviour in school would be listened to or acted upon (of which 7% felt ‘very
confident’ and 34% felt ‘fairly confident’). Almost half of pupils (48%) said they were not
confident that any feedback would be listened to or acted upon (of which 34% felt ‘not
very confident’ and 14% ‘not confident at all’) and 12% of pupils responded ‘don’t know’.
12
In the survey questionnaire, the following explanation was given: ‘by systematically record we mean that
everyone uses the same defined system or process to record aspects of pupil behaviour in a consistent
manner’.
32
As shown in Figure 9, pupils in year 7 (48%) were more likely than pupils in years 9
(38%), 10 (36%), 11 (39%) and 12 (35%) to be confident that any feedback regarding
behaviour would be listened to or acted upon.
Figure 9: Pupil confidence that their school will listen to or act on behaviour
feedback (May 2023)
Base: All pupils year 7-13 (n=2,521), year 7 pupils (n=412), year 8 pupils (n=414), year 9 pupils (n=433),
year 10 pupils (n=423), year 11 pupils (n=444), year 12 pupils (n=227), year 13 pupils (n=168).
Source: PPLP NBS May 2023. * Indicates a significant difference compared to years 9, 10, 11 and 12. ^
Indicates a significant difference to all other years. Totals do not match chart exactly due to rounding. “How
confident are you that any feedback you may give regarding behaviour in your school will be listened to /
acted upon?”
Working with parents and pupils
School leaders, teachers, pupils and parents were asked questions about communication
related to behaviour and parental/pupil support of behaviour rules. These questions were
asked in May 2023.
7%
10%
9%
5%
4%
6%
6%
3%
34%
38%
31%
33%
32%
34%
29%
38%
34%
26%
34%
34%
33%
39%
36%
38%
14%
8%
13%
16%
21%
15%
16%
12%
12%
19%
12%
12%
10%
7%
13%
9%
All pupils
Ye ar 7 pupils
Ye ar 8 pupils
Ye ar 9 pupils
Ye ar 10 pupils
Ye ar 11 pupils
Ye ar 12 pupils
Ye ar 13 pupils
Very confident
Fairly confident
Not very confident Not confident at all Don't know
Total:
Confident
48%*
40%
41%
38%
36%
39%
35%
41%
Total: Not
confident
34
%^
48
%
47
%
50%
54%
53%
52%
50%
33
School leader and teacher confidence in communicating with parents
The majority of school leaders and teachers (89%) reported feeling confident
communicating with parents about their child's behaviour (of which 38% felt ‘very
confident and 50% ‘fairly confident’), whilst 11% reported not feeling confident (of which
9% felt ‘not very confident’ and 2% ‘not confident at all).
As shown in Figure 10, school leaders were more likely than teachers to feel confident
communicating with parents about their child’s behaviour (97% vs. 87%) and were more
likely than teachers to report feeling ‘very confident’ (64% vs. 34%).
Figure 10: School leader and teacher confidence in communicating with parents
about their child's behaviour (May 2023)
Base: All leaders (n=780) and all teachers (n=1,478).
Source: SCP NBS May 2023. Individual weighting. * Indicates a significant difference between leaders and
teachers. ‘Not applicable’ (<1% total) and ‘Prefer not to say’ responses (<1% total) not charted. Totals do
not match chart exactly due to rounding. “In general, how confident, if at all, do you feel communicating
with parents/carers about their child's behaviour?”
Primary school leaders and teachers were more likely to feel confident communicating
with parents about their child’s behaviour than secondary school leaders and teachers
(91% vs. 86%).
89%
97%*
Total:
Confident
87%
38%
64%*
34%
50%
33%
53%*
9%
2%
10%*
2%
3%*
All leaders
and teachers
Leaders
Teachers
Very confident Fairly confident Not very confident Not at all confident
11%
3%
Total: Not
confident
12%*
34
School communication about pupil behaviour
Parents were asked whether their school communicates with them about their child’s
behaviour. Overall, 81% of parents said that the school does communicate with them on
this topic (of which 31% said they receive regular updates and 51% said the school
communicates with them only if there are issues with behaviour), while 16% reported that
the school does not communicate with them about their child’s behaviour and 2%
responded ‘don’t know’. Parents of secondary-aged pupils were more likely than parents
of primary-aged pupils to say they receive regular updates on their child’s behaviour
(37% vs. 26%).
Pupil and parent support of the behaviour rules
School leaders and teachers were asked about parents’ support of the school's
behaviour rules. As shown in Figure 11, in May 2023, 60% of school leaders and
teachers agreed that parents are supportive of the schools’ behaviour rules (of which 8%
responded ‘strongly agree’ and 52% ‘agree’), and 20% disagreed. School leaders were
more likely than teachers to agree parents are supportive of the school's behaviour rules
(71% vs 58%). By phase, primary school leaders and teachers were more likely to agree
that parents were generally supportive of the school’s behaviour rules than secondary
school leaders and teachers (65% vs. 54%).
Compared with June 2022, the proportion of school leaders and teachers that disagreed
parents were generally supportive of the school’s behaviour rules has increased from
15% in June 2022 to 20% in May 2023. Disagreement has increased for both primary
and secondary school leaders and teachers (increasing from 11% in 2022 to 17% in
2023 for primary, and from 20% in 2022 to 24% in 2023 for secondary).
35
Figure 11: Extent to which school leaders and teachers agree that parents are
supportive of the school’s behaviour rules (May 2023 and June 2022)
Base: May 2023 - all leaders (n=780) and all teachers (n=1,478). June 2022 – all leaders (n=786) and all
teachers (n=1,079)
Source: SCP NBS May 2023 and SCP NBS June 2022. Individual weighting. * Indicates a significant
difference between leaders and teachers within the same time period. ^ indicates a significant difference to
June 2022 within the same respondent group. ‘Don’t know’ (≤1% total) not charted. NETs do not match
chart exactly due to rounding. “To what extent do you agree or disagree that parents/carers are generally
supportive of the school’s behaviour rules?”.
Parents were also asked whether they were supportive of the school’s behaviour rules. In
June 2023, the majority of parents (87%) agreed that “I am supportive of the school’s
behaviour rules” (of which 47% responded ‘strongly agree’ and 40% ‘agree’), while 5%
disagreed (4% ‘disagree’ and 1% ‘strongly disagree’) (see Figure 12).
When asked whether they supported the implementation of the school’s behaviour rules,
78% of parents agreed that “I am supportive of how the school's behaviour rules are
implemented” (of which 37% responded ‘strongly agree’ and 40% ‘agree’), while 10%
disagreed (7% ‘disagree’ and 2% ‘strongly disagree’).
Pupils were asked the same questions as parents about their support for the behaviour
rules their school had adopted and whether they supported how they were implemented.
As shown in Figure 12, in May 2023, 49% of pupils agreed that “I am supportive of my
school’s behaviour rules” (of which 15% responded ‘strongly agree’ and 34% ‘agree),
while 29% neither agreed nor disagreed and 18% disagreed (of which 12% responded
8
%
9%
14%*
14%*
7%
9
%
52%
57%
58%*
65%*
51%
56%
19%
18%
13%
11%
20%*
19%*
17%
12%
12%
7%
18%*
13%*
3%
3%
4%
3%
3%
3%
All leaders and
teachers (May 2023)
All leaders and
teachers (June 2022)
Leaders (May 2023)
Leaders (June 2022)
Teachers (May 2023)
Teachers
(June 2022)
Strongly agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree
Total:
Agree
66%
71%*
60%
58%
79%*
65%
Total:
Disagree
15%
16%
20%^
21%*
10%
16%*
36
‘disagree’ and 6% ‘strongly disagree’). Compared with June 2022 the proportion of pupils
who agreed they were supportive of their school’s behaviour rules decreased from 58%
in 2022 to 49% in 2023.
Figure 12: Extent to which pupils and parents agree that they are supportive of the
school’s behaviour rules (May 2023 and June 2022)
Base: June 2023 – all parents (n=3294). May 2023 – all pupils year 7-13 (n=2,521). June 2022 – all
parents (n=2,335) and all pupils year 7-13 (n=1,908).
Source: PPLP June 2023, PPLP NBS May 2023, PPLP NBS June 2022, and PPLP June 2022. * Indicates
a significant difference to June 2022 within the same respondent group. ‘Don’t know’ responses (≤3%) not
charted. “I am supportive of the/my school’s behaviour rules.”
When asked whether they were supportive of how their school’s behaviour rules were
implemented, in May 2023, 47% of pupils agreed that they were, while 20% disagreed
and 27% neither agreed nor disagreed. Compared with June 2022, the proportion of
pupils who agreed they were supportive of how their school’s behaviour rules were
implemented decreased from 56% in 2022 to 47% in 2023.
47%
50%
15%
22%
40%
39%
34%
36%
7%
6%
29%
26%
4%
3%
12%
10%
1%
1%
6%
4%
Parents
(June 2023)
Parents
(June 2022)
Pupils
(May
2023
)
Pupils
(June 2022)
Strongly agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree
87
%
89%
Total:
Agree
5%
Total
:
Disagree
14%
18%
4%
49%*
58%
37
Findings 2: School environment and experience
This chapter presents findings on how the school environment is perceived by school
leaders, teachers and pupils, as well as pupil and parental perceptions of school
belonging and connectedness, and pupil perceptions of wellbeing.
School environment and relationships
School leaders, teachers and pupils were asked to what extent they agreed with a set of
statements relating to their recent experience of the school’s environment and behaviour
culture. These statements were presented in November 2022, March 2023 and May
2023.
For school leaders in May 2023 (see Figure 13):
• 95% reported that their school was a safe environment for pupils ‘every day’ or
‘most days’ in the past week.
• 84% reported that their school had been calm and orderly ‘every day’ or ‘most
days’ in the past week.
Key findings:
• In May 2023, 84% of school leaders reported that their school had been calm
and orderly ‘every day’ or ‘most days’ in the past week (versus 59% of
teachers). For pupils, 54% reported that their school had been calm and orderly
‘every day’ or ‘most days’ in the past week. Comparing across survey waves,
for school leaders and teachers this is a decrease from 92% and 70%
respectively in June 2022.
• In May 2023, 11% of pupils said that they had enjoyed coming to school ‘every
day’ in the past week, whilst 17% said that they had ‘never’ enjoyed coming to
school in the past week. Comparing across survey waves, the proportion of
pupils reporting that they had enjoyed coming to school ‘every day’ has
decreased from 15% in June 2022.
• When asked how often they felt safe at school, 39% of all pupils said that they
had felt safe at school ‘every day’ in the past week in May 2023.
• In May 2023, 71% of pupils felt they were motivated to learn, with 17% who
said that they were ‘very motivated’ and 54% who said they were ‘fairly
motivated’.
38
• 97% reported that school staff had been respectful to each other ‘every day’ or
‘most days’ in the past week.
• 88% reported that pupils had been respectful to each other ‘every day’ or ‘most
days’ in the past week.
• 87% reported that pupils had been respectful to school staff ‘every day’ or ‘most
days’ in the past week.
39
Figure 13: Frequency of positive behaviour culture experiences in the past week
(School Leaders and Teachers, May 2023)
Base: All leaders (n=780) and all teachers (n=1,478).
Source: SCP NBS May 2023. Individual weighting. * Indicates a significant difference between leaders and
teachers. ‘Don’t know’ responses (≤1% total) not charted. Totals do not match chart exactly due to
rounding. “Thinking about the past week, how often would you say….?”.
69%*
42%*
76%*
33%*
37%*
27%
41%
21%
55%*
50%*
4%
15%
2%
11%
12%
1%
1%
1%
My school has been a safe
environment for pupils
My school has been
calm and orderly
School staff have been
respectful to each other
Pupils have been
respectful to each other
Pupils have been
respectful to school staff
Every day
Most days Some days Never
97%*
95%*
Total: Every/Most
days
87%*
Leaders
88%*
84%*
49%
20%
63%
16%
18%
33%*
39%
29%*
48%
45%
16%*
30%*
7%*
32%*
32%*
1%
10%*
4%*
4%*
My school has been a safe
environment for pupils
My school has been
calm and orderly
School staff have been
respectful to each other
Pupils have been
respectful to each other
Pupils have been
respectful to school staff
92%
82%
63%
59%
64%
Teacher
s
40
Primary school leaders were more likely than secondary school leaders to report that:
• Their school had been a safe environment for pupils ‘every day’ (75% vs. 58%)
• Their school had been calm and orderly ‘every day’ or ‘most days’ (87% vs. 77%)
• School staff had been respectful to each other ‘every day’ (80% vs. 70%)
• Pupils had been respectful to each other ‘every day’ or ‘most days’ (92% vs. 82%)
• Pupils had been respectful to school staff ‘every day’ or ‘most days’ (92% vs. 78%)
School teacher views on the same behaviour culture statements were less positive than
school leader views. For every statement, school leaders were significantly more likely
than teachers to say that these positive behaviours happened ‘every day’ in their school
in the past week (or happened ‘every day’ or ‘most days’).
For school teachers in May 2023 (see Figure 13):
• 82% reported that their school was a safe environment for pupils ‘every day’ or
‘most days’ in the past week.
• 59% reported that their school had been calm and orderly ‘every day’ or ‘most
days’ in the past week.
• 92% reported that school staff had been respectful to each other ‘every day’ or
‘most days’ in the past week.
• 64% reported that pupils had been respectful to each other ‘every day’ or ‘most
days’ in the past week.
• 63% reported that pupils had been respectful to school staff ‘every day’ or ‘most
days’ in the past week.
Primary school teachers were more likely than secondary school teachers to report that:
• Their school had been a safe environment for pupils ‘every day’ or ‘most days’
(87% vs. 78%).
• Their school had been calm and orderly ‘every day’ or ‘most days’ (68% vs. 51%).
• Pupils had been respectful to each other ‘every day’ or ‘most days’ (71% vs. 56%).
• Pupils had been respectful to school staff ‘every day’ or ‘most days’ (72% vs.
54%).
For pupils, in May 2023 (see Figure 14):
41
• 54% reported that their school had been calm and orderly ‘every day’ or ‘most
days’ in the past week.
• 86% reported that school staff had been respectful to each other ‘every day’ or
‘most days’ in the past week.
• 49% reported that pupils had been respectful to each other ‘every day’ or ‘most
days’ in the past week.
• 72% reported that school staff had been respectful to pupils ‘every day’ or ‘most
days’ in the past week.
Figure 14: Frequency of positive behaviour culture experiences in the past week
(Pupils, May 2023)
Base: All pupils year 7-13 (n=2,521).
Source: PPLP NBS May 2023. Totals do not match chart exactly due to rounding. “Thinking about the past
week of term, how often would you say…?”
12%
57%
10%
32%
42%
29%
40%
41%
36%
8%
40%
22%
9%
1%
9%
3%
1%
5%
2%
2
%
My school has been calm
and orderly
School staff have been
respectful to each other
Pupils have been
respectful to each other
School staff have been
respectful to pupils
Every day Most days
Some days Never Don't know
49%
54%
Total: Every/Most
days
72%
86%
42
Compared with June 2022
13
(see Figure 15):
• The proportion of school leaders rating all these statements ‘every day’ or ‘most
days’ was significantly lower in May 2023.
• The proportion of school teachers rating all these statements (with the exception
of ‘school staff have been respectful to each other’) ‘every day’ or ‘most days’ was
significantly lower in May 2023.
• The proportion of pupils who said that their school had been calm and orderly
‘every day’ has decreased from 16% in June 2022 to 12% in May 2023.
• The proportion of pupils who said that school staff have been respectful to each
other ‘every day’ or ‘most days’ has increased from 82% in June 2022 to 86% in
May 2023.
13
Comparison does not include ‘Pupils have been respectful to school staff’ or ‘School staff have been
respectful to pupils’ which were not included in the NBS June 2022 survey.
43
Figure 15: Frequency of positive behaviour culture experiences in the past week
across survey waves
Base: May 2023 - all leaders (n=780), all teachers (n=1,478) and all year 7-13 pupils (n=2,521). March
2023 - all leaders (n=529), all teachers (n=2,230) and all year 7-11 pupils (n=2,978). November 2022 - all
leaders (n=717), all teachers (n=1,348) and all year 7-11 pupils (n=2,245). June 2022 – all leaders (n=786),
all teachers (n=1,079) and all year 7-13 pupils (n=1,908).
Source: SCP NBS May 2023, SCP March 2023, SCP November 2022, SCP NBS June 2022, PPLP NBS
May 2023, PPLP March 2023, PPLP November 2022 and PPLP NBS June 2022. Individual weighting. *
Indicates a significant difference to June 2022 within the same respondent group. “Thinking about the past
week, how often would you say….?”
When comparing just secondary school leaders and teachers with pupils on responses to
‘school has been calm and orderly’ in May 2023:
• Secondary school leaders (35%) were more likely than secondary school teachers
(16%) or pupils (12%) to say their school had been calm and orderly ‘every day’ in
the past week.
98%
97%
97%
95%*
88% 88%
84%
82%*
Jun-22 Nov-22 Mar-23 May-23
My school has been a safe environment for pupils
Leaders Teachers
92%
86%
84% 84%*
70%
63%
57%
59%*
55%
63%
54%
54%
Jun-22 Nov-22 Mar-23 May
-23
My school has been calm and orderly
Leaders Teachers Pupils
99%
97%
98%
97%*
93%
91%
89%
92%
82%
86%
84%
86%*
Jun-22 Nov-22 Mar-23 May-23
School staff have been respectful to each other
Leaders Teachers Pupils
93% 93%
88% 88%
*
71%
72%
63%
64%*
47%
53%
43%
49%
Jun-22 Nov-22
Mar-23 May-23
Pupils have been respectful to each other
Leaders Teachers Pupils
To t a l:
Every/Most
days
Total:
Every/Most
days
44
• Secondary school teachers (35%) and pupils (36%) were more likely than
secondary school leaders (20%) to say the school had been calm and orderly on
‘some days’ in the past week.
• Secondary school teachers (14%) were more likely than secondary school leaders
(3%) or pupils (9%) to say that their school had ‘never’ been calm and orderly in
the past week.
When comparing just secondary school leaders and teachers with pupils on responses to
‘school staff have been respectful to each other’ in May 2023:
• Secondary school leaders (70%) and secondary school teachers (62%) were more
likely than pupils (57%) to say that school staff had been respectful to each other
‘every day’ in the past week.
When comparing just secondary school leaders and teachers with pupils on responses to
‘pupils have been respectful to each other’ in May 2023:
• Secondary school leaders (27%) were more likely than both secondary school
teachers (11%) or pupils (10%) to say that pupils had been respectful to each other
‘every day’ in the past week.
• Secondary school teachers (38%) and pupils (40%) were more likely than
secondary school leaders (16%) to say that pupils had been respectful to each
other on ‘some days’ in the past week.
• Pupils (9%) were more likely than either secondary school leaders (2%) or
secondary school teachers (6%) to say that pupils had ‘never’ been respectful to
each other in the past week.
School belonging
Pupils and parents were asked a series of questions relating to school enjoyment, safety
and belonging. These questions were asked in November 2022, March 2023, May 2023
(pupils only) and June 2023 (parents only).
Pupils were asked how much they had enjoyed coming to school over the past week.
Overall, in May 2023, 11% of pupils said that they had enjoyed coming to school ‘every
day in the past week’, whilst 17% said that they had ‘never’ enjoyed coming to school in
the past week. Around a third of pupils (33%) said they had enjoyed coming to school on
‘most days’ whilst 38% responded ‘some days’ (1% responded ‘don’t know’).
Pupils in year 7 (49%) were more likely than pupils in year 9 (39%) and year 10 (39%) to
say that they enjoyed coming to school ‘every day’ or ‘most days’.
45
Compared with June 2022, the proportion of pupils who said they enjoyed coming to
school ‘every day’ decreased from 15% in June 2022 to 11% in May 2023 (see Figure
16).
When asked how often they felt safe at school, 39% of all pupils said that they had felt
safe at school ‘every day’ in the past week in May 2023. Just over a third of pupils (36%)
said they had felt safe on ‘most days’, while 18% felt safe on ‘some days’ and 5% said
that they had ‘never’ felt safe in the past week (2% responded ‘don’t know’). Pupils in
years 12-13 (47%) were more likely than pupils in years 7-9 (38%) and years 10-11
(38%) to say they felt safe ‘every day’.
Parents were also asked how often their child had enjoyed going to school and felt safe
at school over the past week. In June 2023, 41% of parents reported that their child had
enjoyed going to school ‘every day’ in the past week, 37% reported that their child
enjoyed going to school on ‘most days’, and 15% reported that their child enjoyed going
to school on ‘some days’. Only 6% of parents reported that their child had ‘never’ enjoyed
going to school over the past week.
Parents of primary-aged pupils were more likely than parents of secondary-aged pupils to
say their child had enjoyed going to school ‘every day’ over the past week (49% vs.
31%). Conversely, parents of secondary-aged pupils were more likely than parents of
primary-aged pupils to say their child had ‘never’ enjoyed going to school over the past
week (9% vs. 3%).
In May 2023, 64% of parents reported that their child had felt safe at school ‘every day’
over the past week, 26% reported their child had felt safe on ‘most days’, 8% reported
their child had felt safe on ‘some days’ and 2% said their child had ‘never’ felt safe at
school over the past week (1% responded ‘don’t know’). Parents of primary-aged pupils
were more likely than parents of secondary-aged pupils to say their child had felt safe
‘every day’ (71% vs. 55%).
Finally, pupils were also asked how often they felt they belonged at their school. In May
2023, 25% of pupils said they felt they belonged at their school on ‘every day’ in the past
week, 32% said they felt they belonged ‘most days’, 26% said they felt they belonged on
‘some days’, while 12% said that they had ‘never’ felt they belonged in the past week (5%
responded ‘don’t know’).
Pupils in year 7 (31%) were more likely than pupils in year 9 (22%) and year 10 (19%) to
say they felt they belonged at their school on ‘every day’ in the past week.
Compared with June 2022, the proportion of pupils who said they felt they belonged at
their school ‘every day’ decreased from 30% in June 2022 to 25% in May 2023 (see
Figure 16).
46
Figure 16: Frequency of feelings of enjoyment, safety and belonging at school in
the past week across survey waves (Pupils’ views)
Base: May 2023 - year 7-13 pupils (n=2,521). March 2023 - year 7-11 pupils (n=2,978). November 2022 -
year 7-11 pupils (n=2,245). June 2022 – year 7-13 pupils (n=1,908).
Source: PPLP NBS May 2023, PPLP March 2023, PPLP November 2022 and PPLP NBS June 2022. *
Indicates a significant difference to June 2022. Totals do not match chart exactly due to rounding. “Thinking
about the past week of term, how often would you say you have….?”.
School connectedness
Pupils were asked (in November 2022, March 2023 and May 2023) to what extent - on a
scale of 1 (never) to 5 (always) - they felt they had an adult at school who:
• …really cares about me
• …tells me when I do a good job
• …listens to me when I have something to say
• …believes that I will be a success
30%
38%
33%
25
%*
41%
49%
42%
39%
15%
16%
14%
11%*
31%
30%
30%
32%
34%
33%
33%
36%
34%
36%
32%
33%
24%
21%
22%
26%
19%
13%
17%
18%
34%
35%
35%
38%
12%
8%
12%
12%
5%
4%
6%
5%
15%
12%
17%
17%
3%
3%
4%
5%
2%
2%
3%
2%
1%
1%
1%
1%
Jun-22
Nov-22
Mar-23
May-23
Jun-22
Nov-22
Mar-23
May-23
Jun-22
Nov-22
Mar-23
May-23
Felt belonged at school Felt safe at school
Enjoyed coming to
school
Every day
Most days Some days Never Don't know
Total:
E
very
/Most days
46%
43%
49%
75%
75%
82%
75%
61%
57%
63%
68%
52%
47
The responses from these four questions were combined to produce a score of 4-20
which was used as a measure of school connectedness. Overall, in May 2023, pupils had
a mean score of 13.9. As shown in Figure 17, pupils in year 7 and year 11 had the
highest mean scores (14.5 and 14.6 respectively). Pupils in year 10 had the lowest sense
of school connectedness with a mean score of 13.1.
Figure 17: Pupils’ mean score for school connectedness (May 2023)
Base: All pupils (2,521), year 7 pupils (412), year 8 pupils (414), year 9 pupils (433), year 10 pupils (423),
year 11 pupils (444), year 12 pupils (227), year 13 pupils (168).
Source: PPLP NBS May 2023. School connectedness scores (created from “Please rate on a scale of 1 to
5 where 1 is 'never' and 5 is 'always' - At school or college, there is an adult who… Really cares about me /
Tells me when I do a good job / Listens to me when I have something to say / Believes that I will be a
success.”
Motivation to learn
Pupils were asked to self-assess their motivation to learn. In May 2023, 71% of pupils felt
they were motivated to learn, with 17% who said that they were ‘very motivated’ and 54%
who said they were ‘fairly motivated’. Around a fifth (21%) said that they were ‘not very
motivated’ and 7% said that they were ‘not at all motivated’ (1% responded ‘don’t know’).
13.9
14.5
13.8
13.6
13.1
14.6
13.7
14.0
All pupils
Ye ar 7
Ye ar 8
Ye ar 9
Ye ar 10
Ye ar 11
Ye ar 12
Ye ar 13
48
Wellbeing
Pupils were asked a series of Office for National Statistics (ONS) validated questions
about personal wellbeing. These questions are known as the ‘ONS-4’ measures
14
and
were asked in November 2022, March 2023 and May 2023. Responses have been
reported as mean scores.
Pupils were asked to indicate a score between 0 and 10 for:
• how happy they felt yesterday (‘happiness’) (where 0 is 'not at all happy' and 10 is
'completely happy’).
• how satisfied they are with their life nowadays (‘satisfaction’) (where 0 is 'not at all
satisfied' and 10 is 'completely satisfied’).
• to what extent they feel that the things they do in their life are worthwhile
(‘worthwhileness’) (where 0 is 'not at all worthwhile' and 10 is 'completely
worthwhile’).
• how anxious they felt yesterday (‘anxiousness’) (where 0 is 'not at all anxious' and
10 is 'completely anxious’).
It is important to note that for happiness, satisfaction and worthwhileness, a higher mean
score indicates greater wellbeing. Higher anxiousness scores indicate lower wellbeing for
this measure.
Overall, in May 2023 (see Table 5):
• pupils had a mean score of 6.2 for happiness. Mean happiness scores tended to
decrease in older year groups. As shown in Table 5, pupils in year 7 had a mean
happiness score of 6.6, while pupils in year 13 reported a lower mean score of 5.4.
• pupils had a mean score of 6.5 for life satisfaction. As was the case with
happiness scores, mean life satisfaction scores tended to decrease in older year
groups. Pupils in year 7 had a mean satisfaction score of 7.2, while pupils in year
13 had a lower mean satisfaction score of 5.5.
• pupils had a mean score of 6.5 for worthwhileness pupils. Pupils in year 7 had a
mean worthwhileness score of 7.2, falling to 5.7 for pupils in year 13.
• pupils had a mean score of 4.7 for anxiousness. Mean scores tended to be higher
in pupils in older year groups, varying from 4.0 for pupils in year 7 to 6.0 for pupils
in year 13.
14
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing/methodologies/surveysusingthe4officef
ornationalstatisticspersonalwellbeingquestions
49
Table 5: Pupil wellbeing measures (May 2023)
Mean
happiness
score
Mean life
satisfaction
score
Mean
worthwhileness
score
Mean
anxiousness
score
All pupils
6.2
6.5
6.5
4.7
Year 7
6.6
7.2
7.2
4.0
Year 8
6.3
7.0
6.9
4.3
Year 9
6.4 6.6 6.8 4.3
Year 10
5.9 6.0 6.0 4.8
Year 11
6.0 6.1 6.3 5.9
Year 12 5.8 5.8 5.8 4.7
Year 13 5.4 5.5 5.7 6.0
Base: All pupils (2,521), Year 7 pupils (412), Year 8 pupils (414), Year 9 pupils (433), Year 10 pupils (423),
year 11 pupils (444), year 12 pupils (227), year 13 pupils (168).
Source: PPLP NBS May 2023. It is important to note that for happiness, life satisfaction and
worthwhileness, a higher mean score indicates greater wellbeing. Higher anxiousness scores indicate
lower wellbeing for this measure.
Additionally, pupils were asked how often they felt lonely. In May 2023, 20% of pupils
said they felt lonely ‘often’, 39% said they felt lonely ‘some of the time’ and 36% said that
they ‘hardly ever or never’ felt lonely (5% responded ‘prefer not to say’).
Pupils in years 7-9 (40%) were more likely than pupils in years 10-11 (34%) and 12-13
(23%) to report feeling lonely ‘hardly ever or never’. In comparison, pupils in years 12-13
(73%) were more likely than pupils in years 10-11 (63%) and years 7-9 (54%) to report
feeling lonely ‘some of the time’ or ‘often’.
Whether anything has made pupils feel worried, anxious, or depressed
in the past two weeks
Pupils were asked what, if anything, had made them feel worried, anxious, or depressed
in the last two weeks (selected from a prompted list). In May 2023, the most common
causes of concern for pupils were getting good grades in their exams (52%), their school
work (39%), their mental health (29%) and making and maintaining friendships (27%).
Other frequently mentioned concerns included applying for the next stage of their
education (24%) and other pupils’ behaviour at school (16%).
50
Less frequent concerns included: bullying (12%), problems at home (10%), coping with
learning difficulties or Special Educational Needs and/or Disability (9%), climate change
(5%) and not being able to access period products (2%). Overall, 13% of pupils said that
nothing had made them feel worried, anxious, or depressed in the past two weeks.
The most common causes of feeling worried, anxious, or depressed remained consistent
with those identified in June 2022.
Focusing on the most common causes of worry, anxiety and depression, in May 2023:
• Pupils in years 12-13 (84%) were more likely than pupils in years 10-11 (71%) and
years 7-9 (32%) to report concerns about getting good grades in exams
• Pupils in years 12-13 (52%) were more likely than pupils in years 10-11 (40%) and
years 7-9 (35%) to report concerns about school work.
• Pupils in years 12-13 (41%) were more likely than pupils in years 10-11 (34%) and
years 7-9 (24%) to report concerns about mental health.
• Pupils in years 12-13 (33%) were more likely than pupils in years 10-11 (24%) to
report concerns about making and maintaining friendships.
• Pupils in years 12-13 (57%) were more likely than pupils in years 10-11 (31%) and
years 7-9 (12%) to report concerns about applying for the next stage of education.
• Pupils in years 12-13 (18%) were more likely than pupils in years 10-11 (11%) and
years 7-9 (7%) to report concerns about problems at home.
• Pupils in years 7-9 (22%) were more likely than pupils in years 10-11 (12%) and
years 12-13 (5%) to report concerns about other pupils’ behaviour
• Pupils in years 7-9 (17%) were more likely than pupils in years 10-11 (9%) and
years 12-13 (2%) to report concerns about bullying.
51
Findings 3: Frequency and impact of misbehaviour
This chapter reports on how pupil behaviour in schools is perceived by school leaders,
teachers and pupils, as well as the types of disruption and misbehaviour experienced and
the perceived impacts.
Key findings:
• In May 2023, 82% of school leaders reported that pupil behaviour was either
‘very good’ or ‘good’ in the past week (versus 55% of teachers). For pupils,
43% said that behaviour had been ‘very good’ or ‘good’ in the past week.
Comparing across survey waves, this is a decrease for all groups compared to
June 2022.
• In May 2023, 76% of teachers reported that misbehaviour stopped or
interrupted teaching in at least some lessons in the past week. Comparing
across survey waves, this is an increase from 64% in June 2022.
• On average, in May 2023, teachers reported that for every 30 minutes of lesson
time, 7 minutes were lost due to misbehaviour. This is an increase of 1.5
minutes from March 2023, when teachers reported that 5.5 minutes were lost
per 30 minutes, but is similar to June 2022 when 6.3 minutes were reported to
be lost.
• In May 2023, 58% of teachers reported that between 1 to 10 minutes of time
were lost due to misbehaviour per 30 minutes of teaching time. Comparing
across survey waves, the proportion of teachers reporting that more than 10
minutes of teaching time was lost due to pupil misbehaviour per 30 minutes of
lesson time increased from 10% in June 2022 and March 2023 to 25% in May
2023.
• In May 2023, 73% of school leaders and teachers reported that pupil
misbehaviour had had a negative impact on their health and wellbeing to any
extent in the past week: of these, 12% reported it ‘to a great extent’, 31% ‘to
some extent’, and 30% ‘to a small extent’.
• Overall, 22% of pupils said that they had been a victim of bullying for any
reason in the past 12 months. Among pupils who reported that they had been
bullied, the most common perceived reason reported for being bullied was the
way they looked (40% for those bullied in person; 32% for those bullied online).
52
Overall perception of pupil behaviour at school
School leaders, teachers and pupils were asked how the behaviour of pupils at their
school had been in the past week. This question was asked in November 2022, March
2023 and May 2023.
In May 2023, 82% of school leaders reported that pupil behaviour was either ‘very good’
or ‘good’ and 7% of school leaders reported that behaviour had been ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’.
Primary school leaders were more likely than secondary school leaders to report pupils’
behaviour as ‘very good’ or ‘good’ (90% vs. 67%), whilst secondary school leaders were
more likely than primary school leaders to report pupils’ behaviour as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’
(13% vs. 4%).
For teachers, 55% reported that pupil behaviour was ‘very good’ or ‘good’ in May 2023,
whilst 23% said it was ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’. Primary school teachers were more likely than
secondary school teachers to report pupils’ behaviour as ‘very good’ or ‘good’ (67% vs.
43%), whilst secondary school teachers were more likely than primary school teachers to
report pupils’ behaviour as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’ (30% vs. 16%).
Teachers were more likely than school leaders to report that pupil behaviour was ‘poor’
or ‘very poor’ in the past week in May 2023 (23% vs. 7%) and less likely than school
leaders to report that it was ‘very good’ or ‘good’ (55% vs. 82%).
In May 2023, 43% of pupils reported that pupil behaviour had been ‘very good’ or ‘good’
over the past week, whilst 21% said that behaviour was ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’ (32% said
that the behaviour of pupils in their school had been ‘neither good nor poor’). Pupils in
years 12-13 (62%) were more likely than pupils in years 7-11 (40%) to say that behaviour
was ‘very good’ or ‘good’ in the past week.
When comparing only secondary school leaders and teachers with pupils on responses
to this question in May 2023:
• Secondary school leaders (20%) were more likely than secondary school teachers
(9%) and pupils (6%) to say that the behaviour of pupils in their school had been
‘very good’ in the past week.
• Secondary school leaders (47%) were more likely than secondary school teachers
(34%) to say that the behaviour of pupils in their school had been ‘good’ in the
past week.
• Secondary school teachers (22%) were more likely than secondary school leaders
(10%) and pupils (15%) to say that behaviour had been ‘poor’ in the past week.
53
Figure 18 shows the proportion of school leaders, teachers and pupils who rated
behaviour as ‘very good’ or ‘good’ in the past week across all survey waves since June
2022.
Figure 18: Ratings of pupil behaviour across survey waves
Base: May 2023 - all leaders (n=780), all teachers (n=1,478) and all year 7-13 pupils (n=2,521). March
2023 - all leaders (n=529), all teachers (n=2,230) and all year 7-11 pupils (n=2,978). November 2022 - all
leaders (n=717), all teachers (n=1,348) and all year 7-11 pupils (n=2,245). June 2022 – all leaders (n=786),
all teachers (n=1,079) and all year 7-13 pupils (n=1,908).
Source: SCP NBS May 2023, SCP March 2023, SCP November 2022, SCP NBS June 2022, PPLP NBS
May 2023, PPLP March 2023, PPLP November 2022 and PPLP NBS June 2022. Individual weighting. *
Indicates a significant difference to June 2022 within the same respondent group. “Thinking about the past
week, would you say that behaviour of pupils at your school was….?”
Compared with June 2022:
• The proportion of school leaders reporting that pupil behaviour was ‘very good’ or
‘good’ has decreased from 90% in June 2022 to 82% in May 2023.
• The proportion of teachers reporting that pupil behaviour was ‘very good’ or ‘good’
has decreased from 64% in June 2022 to 55% in May 2023.
Total: Very
good/Good
90%
93%
85%
82%*
64
%
71%
60%
55%*
47%
42%
35%
43%*
Jun-22 Nov-22 Mar-23 May-23
Leaders Teachers Pupils
54
• The proportion of pupils reporting that pupil behaviour was ‘very good’ or ‘good’
has decreased from 47% in June 2022 to 43% in May 2023.
Frequency and impact of misbehaviour
Respondents were asked a series of questions to explore the prevalence of
misbehaviour and its impact on teaching and learning. These questions were asked in
November 2022, March 2023 and May 2023.
School teachers that had taught lessons in the past week were asked how often pupil
misbehaviour stopped or interrupted teaching or learning. As shown in Figure 19, in May
2023, 76% of teachers reported that misbehaviour stopped or interrupted teaching in at
least some lessons (of which 13% reported this happened in ‘all lessons’, 24% in ‘most
lessons’ and 39% in ‘some lessons). Secondary school teachers were more likely than
primary school teachers to report that misbehaviour had interrupted teaching in the past
week in at least some lessons (79% vs 73%).
Figure 19: Extent to which teachers felt misbehaviour stopped or interrupted
teaching or learning in the past week (May 2023)
Base: Teachers that had taught in the past week – all (n=1,444), primary (n=640) and secondary (n=804).
Source: SCP NBS May 2023. Individual weighting. * Indicates a significant difference between primary and
secondary school teachers. ‘Don’t know’ (<1%) not charted. NETs do not match chart exactly due to
rounding. “Thinking about lessons you taught during the past week, in how many did pupil misbehaviour
stop or interrupt teaching or learning?”
13%
15%*
10%
24%
22%
25%
39%
35%
43%*
22
%
25
%*
18%
3%
3%
3%
All
teachers
Primary
teachers
Secondary
teachers
All lessons Most lessons Some lessons Rarely Never
79%*
76%
73%
Total:At least
some lessons
55
Compared with previous survey waves, the proportion of teachers reporting that
misbehaviour had interrupted teaching in the past week in at least some lessons
increased (from 65% in June 2022 and 71% in March 2023 to 76% in May 2023).
School teachers that had taught lessons in the past week were also asked how many
minutes they thought were lost due to misbehaviour for every 30 minutes of
teaching/lesson time. On average, in May 2023, school teachers reported that 7 minutes
were lost for every 30 minutes of lesson time. This is an increase of 1.5 minutes from
March 2023, when teachers reported that 5.5 minutes were lost per 30 minutes, but is
similar to June 2022 when 6.3 minutes were reported to be lost.
Overall, in May 2023, 58% of school teachers reported that between 1 to 10 minutes of
time were lost per 30 minutes of teaching time (similar between primary and secondary
school teachers) while 25% reported that more than 10 minutes were lost due to pupil
misbehaviour (secondary school teachers were more likely than primary school teachers
to report this; 28% vs. 23%). Only 3% of teachers reported that no time was lost to
misbehaviour in the past week.
Compared with previous survey waves, the proportion of teachers reporting that more
than 10 minutes of teaching time was lost due to pupil misbehaviour per 30 minutes of
lesson time increased from 10% in June 2022 and March 2023 to 25% in May 2023.
Pupils were also asked how frequently the misbehaviour of other pupils had stopped or
interrupted lessons or their work over the past week of term. In May 2023, 69% of pupils
reported that misbehaviour had interrupted their work in at least some lessons (of which
7% reported this happened in ‘all lessons’, 23% in ‘most lessons’ and 39% in ‘some
lessons’). Fewer than one in ten (6%) said that lessons had ‘never’ been affected. Pupils
in years 7-9 (36%) and in years 10-11 (26%) were more likely than pupils in years 12-13
(11%) to say that ‘all lessons’ or ‘most lessons’ had been interrupted by misbehaviour in
the past week.
Pupils who reported that their lessons had been interrupted by misbehaviour were asked
how quickly their teachers had been able to address the misbehaviour so that learning
could continue. In May 2023, 67% of pupils reported that the misbehaviour had been
quickly addressed (14% ‘very quickly’ and 53% ‘fairly quickly’) whereas 21% said that the
misbehaviour had been addressed ‘not very quickly’ and 4% said that it had been
addressed ‘not quickly at all’. The remainder were either unsure (3%) or said that it varied
too much to say (5%).
Types of disruptive behaviour
School teachers who had taught in the last week, and pupils, were asked an additional
question about how frequently specific disruptive behaviours had occurred in lessons in
56
the past week. In May 2023, school teachers were most likely to report talking (89%) and
shouting out (70%) as behaviours that occurred when they were not supposed to in at
least some lessons. Less frequently reported behaviours included arriving to lessons late
(52% of teachers reported this in at least some lessons) and answering back or
challenging instructions (49% reported this in at least some lessons). The behaviours
least likely to be reported in at least some lessons included throwing things non-
aggressively (27%) and using mobile phones when not supposed to (18%).
With the exception of shouting out, secondary school teachers were more likely than
primary school teachers to report these behaviours occurring when not supposed to in at
least some lessons:
• Talking (92% for secondary vs. 86% for primary)
• Arriving to lessons late (80% for secondary vs. 23% for primary)
• Answering back or challenging instructions (58% for secondary vs. 40% for
primary)
• Using mobile phones (35% for secondary vs. 1% for primary)
• Throwing things non-aggressively (32% for secondary vs. 23% for primary)
Compared with March 2023, school teachers reported higher frequencies of pupils
arriving to lessons late (21% vs. 17% in March 2023) and throwing things non-
aggressively (6% vs. 4% in March 2023) in all or most lessons.
For pupils, in May 2023, the types of misbehaviour reported as most likely to occur when
they were not supposed to in at least some lessons were talking (90% of pupils reported
this), arriving to lessons late (79%) and shouting out (74%). The least frequently reported
behaviour was throwing things non-aggressively (although 50% of pupils reported this
happening in at least some lessons).
Looking across pupil year groups in May 2023, there were some significant differences in
the frequency of these behaviours being reported:
• For talking, pupils in years 7-9 (70%) and pupils in years 10-11 (71%) were more
likely than pupils in years 12-13 (49%) to report this happening in all or most
lessons.
• For arriving to lessons late, pupils in years 10-11 (50%) were more likely than
pupils in years 7-9 (35%) and years 12-13 (36%) to report this happening in all or
most lessons.
57
• For shouting out, pupils in years 7-9 (51%) and pupils in years 10-11 (44%) were
more likely than pupils in years 12-13 (15%) to report this happening in all or most
lessons.
• For answering back or challenging instructions, pupils in years 7-9 (33%) and
years 10-11 (30%) were more likely than pupils in years 12-13 (7%) to report this
happening in all or most lessons.
• For using mobile phones when not supposed to, pupils in years 10-11 (46%) and
years 12-13 (45%) were more likely than pupils in years 7-9 (23%) to report this
happening in all or most lessons.
• For throwing things non-aggressively, pupils in years 7-9 (23%) and years 10-11
(20%) were more likely than pupils in years 12-13 (4%) to report this happening in
all or most lessons.
When comparing only secondary school teachers and pupils on responses to this
question in May 2023 (see Table 6 and Table 7):
• For all of the behaviours asked about, pupils were more likely to say these
occurred in ‘all lessons’ or ‘most lessons’ than did secondary school teachers.
• For shouting out, answering back, using mobile phones and throwing things non-
aggressively, secondary school teachers were more likely to report that these
behaviours happened ‘rarely’ or ‘never’ than did pupils.
58
Table 6: Frequency of types of pupil misbehaviour in the past week (secondary
school teacher views, May 2023)
All
lessons
Most
lessons
Some
lessons
Rarely Never
Talking 25% 35% 32%* 7% -
Arriving to lessons late 10% 29% 41% 18% 2%
Shouting out 9% 21% 41%* 23%* 7%
Answering back /
challenging instructions
4% 16% 38% 28%* 14%*
Using mobile phones 3% 8% 25% 35%* 29%*
Throwing things (non-
aggressively)
1% 5% 26% 38%* 30%*
Base: Secondary school teachers who had taught in the past week (n=804).
Source: SCP NBS May 2023. Individual weighting. * Indicates a significant difference between secondary
school teachers and pupils (see Table 6). “Thinking about the lessons you taught during the past week,
how often, if at all, did the following occur when it was not supposed to?”
Table 7: Frequency of types of pupil misbehaviour in the past week (pupil views,
May 2023)
All
lessons
Most
lessons
Some
lessons
Rarely Never
Talking 34%* 34% 22% 6% 1%
Arriving to lessons late
13%*
27%
39%
16%
2%
Shouting out
18%*
26%*
30%
17%
5%
Answering back /
challenging instructions
9%* 20%* 35% 23% 9%
Using mobile phones 13%* 20%* 26% 25% 13%
Throwing things (non-
aggressively)
6%* 14%* 30% 31% 16%
Base: All pupils (n=2,521).
Source: PPLP NBS May 2023. * Indicates a significant difference between pupils and secondary school
teachers (see Table 5). “Thinking about the lessons you attended during the past week, how often, if at all,
did the following occur when it was not supposed to?”
59
Impacts on wellbeing
School leaders and teachers were asked about the extent to which pupil misbehaviour
had had a negative impact on their health and wellbeing. This question was asked in
November 2022, March 2023 and May 2023.
Overall, in May 2023, 73% of school leaders and teachers reported that pupil
misbehaviour had had a negative impact on their health and wellbeing to any extent in
the past week: of these, 12% reported it ‘to a great extent’, 31% ‘to some extent’, and
30% ‘to a small extent’. A quarter (25%) responded ‘not at all’ and 1% responded ‘don’t
know’. As shown in Figure 20, teachers were more likely than school leaders to report
that misbehaviour had impacted their health and wellbeing to any extent (74% vs 64%).
Secondary school leaders and teachers were more likely than primary school leaders
and teachers to report misbehaviour had impacted their health and wellbeing to any
extent (76% vs. 69%).
Compared with previous survey waves:
• The proportion of school leaders reporting that pupil misbehaviour has had a
negative impact on their health and wellbeing to any extent in the past week has
increased from 47% in June 2022 to 64% in May 2023.
• The proportion of school teachers reporting that pupil misbehaviour has had a
negative impact on their health and wellbeing to any extent in the past week has
increased from 62% in June 2022 to 74% in May 2023.
60
Figure 20: Extent to which pupil misbehaviour has had a negative impact on health
and wellbeing across survey waves (Leaders and teachers)
Base: May 2023 - all leaders (n=780) and all teachers (n=1,478). March 2023 - all leaders (n=529) and all
teachers (n=2,230). Nov 2022 - all leaders (n=717) and all teachers (n=1,348). June 2022 – all leaders
(n=786) and all teachers (n=1,079).
Source: SCP NBS May 2023, SCP March 2023, SCP November 2022 and SCP NBS June 2022.
Individual weighting. * Indicates a significant difference between leaders and teachers within the same time
period. ^ Indicates a significant difference to June 2022 within the same respondent group. Totals do not
match chart exactly due to rounding. “How confident, if at all, do you personally feel about managing
misbehaviour in your school?”
Bullying
Pupils were asked whether they had been a victim of bullying in the past 12 months,
either inside or outside of school, and why they thought the bullying took place. Parents
were also asked these questions about their children. These questions were asked in
May 2023.
Overall, 26% of pupils said that they had been a victim of bullying for any reason in the
past 12 months (this is an increase from 22% in June 2022). In most cases, they were
7%
9%
12%
13%
4%
4%
6%
8%
24%
22%
28%
31%
17
%
18%
20
%
27%
31%
32%
32%
30%
26%
26%
26%
29%
34%
31%
23%
24%
48%
42%
39%
33%
3%
4%
4
%
1%
4%
11%
8%
2%
Jun-22
Nov-22
Mar-23
May-23
Jun-22
Nov-22
Mar-23
May-23
Teachers Leaders
To a great extent To some extent To a small extent Not at all NA - there has been no poor pupil behaviour
47
%
64
%^
52
%
Total
:To any
extent
47%
74%*
73%*
63%*
62%*
61
bullied by pupils at their school (23%), although 5% said that they had been bullied by
someone else.
15
As summarised in Table 8, the incidence of pupils reporting being a victim of bullying in
the past 12 months decreased with age, from 36% for those in year 7 to 13% for those in
year 12 and 6% in year 13. This was mainly driven by a decrease in the proportion of
pupils who reported being a victim of bullying by someone at their school.
Table 8: Pupils' experience of being a victim of bullying in the past 12 months (May
2023)
Bullied in the
past 12
months
All
pupils
Year
7
Year
8
Year
9
Year
10
Year
11
Year
12
Year
13
Yes 26% 36% 35% 29% 25% 15% 13% 6%
Yes, by pupils
at my school
23% 32% 33% 27% 21% 14% 9% 3%
Yes, by
someone else
5% 6% 4% 3% 10% 3% 5% 3%
No 66% 55% 55% 61% 66% 80% 82% 89%
Don’t know 8% 9% 11% 11% 8% 5% 5% 5%
Base: All pupils (n=2,521), Year 7 pupils (n=412), Year 8 pupils (n=414), Year 9 pupils (n=433), Year 10
pupils (n=423), year 11 pupils (n=444), year 12 pupils (n=227), year 13 pupils (n=168).
Source: PPLP NBS May 2023. Respondents could answer both ‘yes – by pupils at my school’ and ‘yes –
by someone else’, therefore these do not sum to ‘Yes’ responses. “In the past 12 months have you been a
victim of bullying for any reason? Please include any online bullying (cyberbullying) or bullying in person.”
Among pupils who reported that they had been bullied in the past 12 months, 30% said
that at least some of it had been online bullying and 90% said that at least some of it had
been in person. Specifically, 23% said they had experienced bullying both in person and
online, while 67% had experienced bullying only in person, and 7% only online.
Pupils who reported that they had been bullied in the past 12 months were shown a list of
possible reasons and were asked which they thought were reasons for the bullying.
Among pupils who reported that they had been bullied in person, the most common
15
Pupils were able to report multiple experiences of bullying, so may have reported bullying both by pupils
at their school and by someone else.
62
reason, as perceived by pupils, was the way they looked (40%), followed by a disability
or special educational need (11%), their sexual orientation (11%), their sex, for example
boy or girl (7%), their nationality (6%), their race or ethnicity (5%), or their religion or
beliefs (4%). A third (33%) said they did not know the reason for the bullying.
The perceived reasons for bullying were similar among pupils who reported that they had
been bullied online.
16
The most common reason was the way they looked (32%),
followed by their sexual orientation (14%), a disability or special educational need (14%),
their sex, for example boy or girl (10%), their nationality (5%), their religion or beliefs
(4%) or their race or ethnicity (2%). Over a third (36%) said they did not know the reason
for the bullying.
When responding to these questions in relation to their children, 28% of parents said that
their child had been a victim of bullying of any type in the previous 12 months. They
reported that the bullying typically stemmed from pupils at their child’s school (27%
reported this), although 2% said that their child had been bullied by someone else.
Within secondary schools, parents of pupils in years 7-9 (32%) were more likely than
parents of pupils in years 10-11 (19%) to report that their child had been a victim of
bullying in the past year.
Parents who reported that their child had experienced any type of bullying in the past 12
months were asked where the bullying occurred. Of those whose child had experienced
bullying, 94% said that it occurred in person, while 20% said that their child had been
bullied online. Parents of secondary-aged pupils (31%) were more likely than parents of
primary-aged pupils (12%) to report that the bullying had happened online.
The most common reason for the bullying reported by parents was the way their child
looked (32%), followed by a disability or special educational need (15%), their race or
ethnicity (7%), their sex (5%), their sexual orientation (3%) or their religion or belief (3%)
and their nationality (2%). Just under a third (30%) said they did not know the reason for
the bullying.
Parents of secondary-aged pupils were more likely than parents of primary-aged pupils to
say the reason for the bullying was because of the way their child looks (41%% vs.
26%%) or their sexual orientation (5% vs. 1%).
16
217 pupils answered this question.
63
Findings 4: Responding to behaviour
This chapter reports on views of school leaders and teachers on responding to
misbehaviour, including confidence in managing and responding to pupil behaviour,
access to training and support, and targeted support provided by schools. The majority of
these questions were asked only in May 2023 - with the exception of 2 confidence
questions which were asked in November 2022, March 2023 and May 2023.
Confidence in managing pupil misbehaviour
All school leaders and teachers were asked about the level of confidence they had
personally in managing misbehaviour in their school.
In May 2023, 92% of school leaders and teachers felt at least fairly confident, with 39%
feeling ‘very confident’. School leaders were more likely than teachers to report being
confident (99% vs. 91%) or being ‘very confident’ (66% vs. 35%) managing misbehaviour
in their schools. Overall, 9% of teachers were not confident about managing
Key findings:
• In May 2023, 92% of school leaders and teachers felt at least fairly confident in
personally managing misbehaviour in their school, with 39% feeling ‘very
confident’. School leaders were more likely than teachers to report being ‘very
confident’ in managing misbehaviour (66% vs. 35%). Compared with March
2023, the proportion of school leaders and teachers reporting being ‘very
confident’ has decreased (from 80% to 66% for leaders; from 47% to 35% for
teachers).
• Just under a third of school teachers (31%) and just over a fifth of school
leaders (22%) felt they could not personally access training and development
support for behaviour management relevant to their experience and needs.
• In May 2023, the interventions most commonly used by schools to manage
behaviour were referrals to specialist services (89%) and targeted interventions
such as mentoring and social/emotional learning (88%). These were followed
by removal from the classroom as a restorative measure (80%) and by the
involvement of specialised pastoral support staff (76%).
• In May 2023, 18% of school leaders and teachers reported that any external
specialist support provided to manage behaviour was timely (3% ‘very timely’
and 16% ‘fairly timely’) while 52% reported it was not timely (26% ‘not very
timely’ and 27% ‘not timely at all’).
64
misbehaviour in their school (of which 8% were ‘not very confident’ and 1% were ‘not at
all confident).
Primary school leaders and teachers were more likely than secondary school leaders and
teachers to report confidence in managing misbehaviour (94% vs. 90%).
Compared with previous survey waves, the proportion of school leaders and teachers
reporting being ‘very confident’ in managing misbehaviour has decreased (from 80% in
March 2023 to 66% in May 2023 for leaders; and from 47% in March 2023 to 35% in May
2023 for teachers).
Figure 21: School leader and teacher confidence in managing misbehaviour in
school across survey waves
Base: May 2023 - all leaders (n=780) and all teachers (n=1,478). March 2023 - all leaders (n=529) and all
teachers (n=2,230). Nov 2022 - all leaders (n=717) and all teachers (n=1,348). June 2022 – all leaders
(n=786) and all teachers (n=1,079).
Source: SCP NBS May 2023, SCP March 2023, SCP November 2022 and SCP NBS June 2022.
Individual weighting. * Indicates a significant difference between leaders and teachers within the same time
period. ^ Indicates a significant difference to June 2022 within the same respondent group. Totals do not
match chart exactly due to rounding. “How confident, if at all, do you personally feel about managing
misbehaviour in your school?”
Confidence to support pupils to understand how to behave well
School leaders and teachers were also asked about the level of confidence they had
personally in supporting pupils to understand how to behave well. In May 2023, 93% of
42%
46%
47%
35%^
74%*
75%*
80%*
66%*^
51%*
48%*
45%*
56%*
24%
23%
19%
32%
6%*
5%*
6%*
8%*
1%
2%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
Jun-22
Nov-22
Mar
-23
May
-23
Jun-22
Nov-22
Mar-23
May-23
Teachers Leaders
Very confident Fairly confident Not very confident Not at all confident
Total:
Confident
98%*
99%*
99%*
98%*
91%
93%
94%
93%
Total: Not
confident
2%
1%
1%
2%
9%*
7%*
6%*
7%*
65
school leaders and teachers felt at least fairly confident supporting pupils to understand
how to behave well, with 41% feeling ‘very confident’. School leaders were more likely
than teachers to report feeling confident (98% vs. 92%) or feeling ‘very confident’ (68%
vs. 37%). Overall, 6% of teachers were ‘not very confident’ about supporting pupils to
understand how to behave well.
Primary school leaders and teachers were more likely than secondary school leaders and
teachers to report feeling confident in supporting pupils to understand how to behave well
(97% vs. 89%).
Compared to November 2022, when this question was last asked, the proportion of
teachers reporting feeling confident in supporting pupils to understand how to behave
well decreased from 96% in November 2022 to 92% in May 2023. This was due to a
decrease in the proportion of teachers feeling ‘very confident’, falling from 53% in
November 2022 to 37% in May 2023.
Confidence to address bullying
All school leaders and teachers were asked whether they felt, or would feel, confident in
addressing different types of bullying. This question was asked in May 2023. The types of
bullying school leaders and teachers were most confident in addressing were those
based on looks/appearance, nationality, race or ethnicity, disability or special educational
needs, religion or belief, and sex. As shown in Figure 22, for each of these types of
bullying between 95% and 93% of school leaders and teachers reported feeling confident
in addressing the bullying. School leaders and teachers were least confident in
addressing bullying based on a pupil’s sexual orientation (88% felt confident) or gender
reassignment (68% felt confident). School leaders reported being more confident than
teachers in addressing all the types of bullying.
66
Figure 22: School leader and teacher confidence in addressing different types of
bullying at their school (May 2023)
Base: All leaders (n=780) and all teachers (n=1,478).
Source: SCP NBS May 2023. Individual weighting. Totals do not match chart exactly due to rounding. “Do
you feel or would you feel confident in addressing bullying at your school based on a pupil's ……?”
Primary school leaders and teachers were more likely than secondary school leaders and
teachers to report feeling confident in addressing bullying based on a pupil’s
looks/appearance (96% vs. 93%), disability or special educational needs (96% vs. 92%),
religion or belief (95% vs. 92%) and nationality (96% vs. 93%). In turn, secondary school
leaders and teachers were more likely than primary school leaders and teachers to report
feeling confident in addressing bullying based on a pupil’s sexual orientation (89% vs.
86%) and gender reassignment (72% vs. 65%).
Support and training
Several questions were asked to school teachers only about support from senior leaders.
These questions were asked annually in May 2023.
55%
51%
53%
56%
52%
53%
44%
31%
39%
44%
40%
38%
42%
40%
44%
38%
4%
3%
4%
4%
5%
5
%
9%
20%
1%
1%
1%
1%
7%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
4%
Looks
/appearance
Nationality
Race or ethnicity
Disability or special educational needs
Religion or belief
Sex (e.g. boy, girl)
Sexual orientation (e.g.
gay, lesbian,
bisexual)
Gender reassignment
Very confident
Fairly confident Not very confident Not at all confident
Don't know
Total: Confident
94%
95%
94%
94%
93%
93%
88%
68%
67
Culture of support
School teachers were asked whether senior leaders foster a culture where teachers are
confident to ask for support in managing pupils with persistently disruptive behaviour.
In May 2023, 62% of teachers agreed that senior leaders in their school fostered a
culture where they were confident to ask for support in managing pupils with persistently
disruptive behaviour (of which 23% responded ‘strongly agree’ and 39% ‘agree’), whilst
26% disagreed (of which 18% responded ‘disagree’ and 7% ‘strongly disagree’).
Primary school teachers were more likely than secondary school teachers to agree this
culture existed (68% vs. 56%), whilst secondary school teachers were more likely than
primary school teachers to disagree (31% vs. 21%).
Support to manage pupils with persistently disruptive behaviour
When school teachers were asked whether the support they receive from senior leaders
helps them to manage pupils with persistently disruptive behaviour effectively, 48%
agreed this was the case (of which 15% responded ‘strongly agree’ and 33% ‘agree’)
compared to 33% that disagreed (of which 23% responded ‘disagree’ and 10% ‘strongly
disagree’).
As shown in Figure 23, primary school teachers were more likely than secondary school
teachers to agree that the support they receive from senior leaders helps them to
manage pupils effectively (55% vs. 41%), whilst secondary school teachers were more
likely than primary school teachers to disagree (38% vs. 28%).
68
Figure 23: Extent to which school teachers agree that the support they receive
from senior leaders helps them to effectively manage pupils with persistently
disruptive behaviour (May 2023)
Base: All teachers excluding not applicable responses (n=1,450), all primary teachers excluding not
applicable responses (n=655) and all secondary teachers excluding not applicable responses (n=795).
Source: SCP NBS May 2023. Individual weighting. * Indicates a significant difference between primary and
secondary school teachers. ‘Don’t know’ responses (≤1%) not charted. Totals do not match chart exactly
due to rounding. “The support I receive from senior leaders helps me to effectively manage pupils with
persistently disruptive behaviour.”
Compared with June 2022, the proportion of school teachers who agreed that the support
they receive helps them to effectively manage pupil behaviour has decreased from 52%
in June 2022 to 48% in May 2023.
Support to tackle bullying
School teachers were presented with a list of eight types of potential bullying and asked
whether there were any types that they did not feel supported, or did not think they would
be supported, in dealing with at their school. Overall, 80% of school teachers indicated
that they were or would be supported in dealing with all the types of bullying discussed.
Primary school teachers were more likely to report this than secondary school teachers
(82% vs. 77% respectively).
Of the 8 types of bullying, 12% of teachers felt there was at least one type of bullying
behaviour that they would not be supported in dealing with. Bullying based on sexual
orientation (6%), looks/appearance (6%), and gender reassignment (6%) were the types
15%
18%*
11%
33%
36%*
30%
18%
17%
20%
23%
20%
27%*
10%
8%
12%*
All teachers
Primary
teachers
Secondary
teachers
Strongly agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree
Total:
Agree
48%
55%*
Total:
Disagree
33%
28%
41% 38%*
69
of bullying for which the largest proportion of teachers did not think they were or would be
supported in dealing with.
Secondary school teachers were more likely than primary school teachers to think they
were not or would not be supported with dealing with the following types of bullying:
• Looks/appearance (8% secondary vs. 3% primary)
• Sexual orientation (7% vs. 4%)
• Sex (6% vs. 4%)
• Disability or special educational needs (5% vs. 2%)
• Nationality (4% vs. 2%)
• Race or ethnicity (6% vs 3%)
• Religion or belief (5% vs 2%).
Accessing training for behaviour management
All school leaders and teachers were asked whether they can personally access training
and development support for behaviour management that is relevant to their experience
and needs. Overall, 44% of school leaders and teachers reported that they could access
training and development support for behaviour management that was relevant to their
needs, whilst 29% reported that they could not (and 27% responded ‘don’t know’).
School leaders were more likely than teachers to report that they could access such
training and development (67% vs. 40%); school teachers were more likely than school
leaders to report that they could not access such training (31% vs. 22%).
Compared with June 2022, the proportion of teachers reporting being unable to access
training and development support for behaviour management has increased from 27% in
June 2022 to 31% in May 2023.
Interventions and targeted support
School leaders and teachers were asked a set of questions about the support provided to
pupils with challenging behaviours. These covered whether the school has a clear
system for responding when a pupil is identified as needing additional support to address
their behaviour, the types of interventions the school provides, and the timeliness and
appropriateness of any external specialist support provided for pupils. These questions
were asked in May 2023.
70
Clear system for responding to identified need
School leaders and teachers were asked whether their school has a clear system for
responding when a pupil is identified as needing additional support to address their
behaviour. Overall, in May 2023, 68% of school leaders and teachers responded that
their school does have a clear system, whilst 20% did not feel this was the case (12%
responded don’t know).
School leaders were more likely than teachers to state that a clear response system was
in place (89% vs. 64%). In comparison, school teachers were more likely than school
leaders to indicate that they did not believe a clear system was in place (22% vs. 10%) or
to not know (14% vs. 2%).
Primary school leaders were more likely than secondary school leaders to report their
school has a clear system for responding when a pupil is identified as needing additional
support (92% vs. 83%). Similarly, primary school teachers were more likely to report this
than secondary school teachers (68% vs. 61).
Types of interventions offered by schools
School leaders were asked, from a prompted list, which interventions their school
provided where necessary to manage behaviour. As shown in Figure 24, in May 2023,
the interventions most commonly used by schools were referrals to specialist services
(89%) and targeted interventions such as mentoring and social/emotional learning (88%).
These were followed by removal from the classroom as a restorative measure (80%) and
by the involvement of specialised pastoral support staff (76%).
71
Figure 24: Interventions, if any, that the school provides where necessary to
manage behaviour (May 2023)
Base: All leaders (n=780), all primary leaders (n=447) and all secondary leaders (n=333).
Source: SCP NBS May 2023. Schools weighting. ‘Other’ (2%) and ‘None of these’ (<1%) not charted. *
Indicates a significant difference between primary and secondary schools. ^ Indicates a significant
difference to June 2022. “Which of the following interventions, if any, does your school provide where
necessary to manage behaviour?”
Secondary schools were more likely than primary schools to use targeted interventions
such as mentoring and social/emotional learning (97% vs 87%), specialised pastoral
support staff (90% vs 73%), school counselling and wellbeing services (91% vs 64%),
removal as a sanction (89% vs 53%), off-site direction e.g. to an alternative education
provider (83% vs 27%) or a pupil support unit (44% vs 6%).
Compared with June 2022, the proportion of schools reporting referral to specialist
services and targeted interventions decreased - from 92% in June 2022 to 89% in May
2023 and 92% in June 2022 to 88% in May 2023 respectively.
89%^
88%^
80%
76%
69%
59%
36%
13%
88%
87%
80%
73%
64%
53%
27%
6%
92%
97%*
79%*
90%*
91%*
89%*
83%*
44%*
Referral to specialist services e.g. educational
psychologists, speech and language therapists,
specialist family support
Targeted interventions e.g. mentoring, social and
emotional learning
Removal as a restorative measure, including nurture
and sensory spaces
Specialised pastoral support staff
School counselling and wellbeing services
Removal as a sanction
Offsite direction e.g. to an alternative education
provider
Pupil support unit
All
Primary
Secondary
72
Timeliness of external specialist support
School leaders and teachers were asked about the timeliness, on average, of any
external specialist support. In May 2023, 18% of school leaders and teachers reported
that this support was timely (3% ‘very timely’ and 16% ‘fairly timely’) while 52% reported it
was not timely (of which 26% responded ‘not very timely’ and 27% not timely at all).
17
As
shown in Figure 25, 12% of school leaders and teachers reported that support was not
provided despite being required.
Figure 25: School leaders' and teachers' views on timeliness of external specialist
support services (May 2023)
Base: All leaders (n=753) and all teachers (n=1,378) aware of school need to use external support.
Source: SCP NBS May 2023. * Indicates a significant difference between leaders and teachers. Totals do
not match chart exactly due to rounding. “How timely, on average, is the external specialist support
provided?”
Primary school leaders were more likely than secondary school leaders to report that the
external support was provided on a timely basis (24% vs. 17%). Secondary school
17
Findings from May 2023 cannot be directly compared to June 2022 as question response options
differed between the surveys (May 2023 survey included the response option “Support not provided despite
being required”.
3%
3%
2%
16%
19%*
15%
26%
29%
25%
27%
32%*
26%
12%
16%*
11%
18%
2%
21%*
All leaders
and teachers
Leaders
Teachers
Very timely Fairly timely Not very timely Not timely at all Support not provided
Don’t know
Total:
Timely
18%
22%*
Total:
Not timely
52%
61%*
18% 51%
73
leaders were more likely than primary school leaders to say that the support had not
been provided despite being required (20% vs. 13%).
Appropriateness of external specialist support
School leaders and teachers who were aware of external specialist support being
needed, and able to give an answer about its timeliness, were also asked about the
appropriateness of the external specialist support services provided.
18
In May 2023, 53%
of school leaders and teachers felt the support was appropriate (of which 7% responded
‘very appropriate’ and 47% ‘fairly appropriate’) compared to 30% who felt it was not
appropriate (23% ‘not very appropriate’ and 7% ‘not appropriate at all’) (16% responded
‘don’t know’).
Primary school leaders and teachers were more likely than secondary school leaders and
teachers to report that support from external specialist support was not appropriate (33%
vs. 25%), and secondary school leaders and teachers were more likely than primary
school leaders and teachers to not know (23% vs. 11%).
Teaching assistants
In May 2023, school leaders and teachers were asked for their views on the importance
of teaching assistants in managing and supporting pupil behaviour in 3 areas: general
support in the classroom, targeted support for specific pupils, and planned interventions
outside of the classroom.
19
As shown in Figure 26, 93% of school leaders and teachers
reported that teaching assistants were important for targeted one-to-one or small group
support for specific pupils, 88% reported that teaching assistants were important for
planned interventions outside of the classroom, and 76% reported they were important
for general support in the classroom.
18
Results therefore not directly comparable to June 2022 reported findings which includes those who were
unable to answer about the timeliness of support.
19
This is the first time these questions have been asked.
74
Figure 26: School leader and teacher views on the importance of teaching
assistants in managing and supporting pupil behaviour (May 2023)
Base: All leaders (n=780) and all teachers (n=1,478).
Source: SCP NBS May 2023. Individual weighting. Totals do not match chart exactly due to rounding.
“How would you rate the importance of teaching assistants for…. targeted one-to-one or small group
support for specific pupils in the classroom to improve the engagement of pupils with behavioural issues /
planned and targeted interventions outside of the classroom for pupils with behavioural issues / general
support in the classroom to manage behaviour.”
Responses on the importance of teaching assistants in terms of the above three roles
were consistent between school leaders and teachers. Within phase, however, primary
school leaders and teachers were more likely than secondary school leaders and
teachers to consider teaching assistants important to each of the roles:
• General support in the classroom (92% vs. 57% for secondary)
• Planned and targeted interventions outside of the classroom (94% vs. 82%)
• Targeted one-to-one or small group support (98% vs. 88%)
When asked whether the number of teaching assistants at their school was sufficient to
help manage pupil behaviour, 19% of school leaders and teachers felt this was the case
whilst 77% felt the numbers were not sufficient (3% responded ‘don’t know). Teachers
were more likely than school leaders to report that the numbers of teaching assistants
were not sufficient (79% vs. 70%). Secondary school leaders and teachers were more
likely than primary school leaders and teachers to say that the number of teaching
assistants at their school was not sufficient to help manage pupil behaviour (81% vs.
74%).
66%
59%
45%
27%
30%
31%
3%
6%
16%
2%
2%
7%
2%
4%
2%
Targeted one-to-one or small
group support for specific pupils
Planned and targeted
interventions outside of the
classroom
General support in the classroom
to manage misbehaviour
Very important Fairly important Not very important Not at all important Don
’t know
Total:
Important
93%
88%
Total: Not
important
5%
8%
76% 22%
75
Annex
Methodology
Data analysis
Two types of statistical tests have been used to determine whether significant differences
are present in the data. For categorical data (sub-group percentages), z-tests have been
applied. For numerical data (sub-group means), the t-test for independent means has
been applied. Both tests use the weighted figures. Differences between sub-groups, and
between waves, are only commented on in the text if they are statistically significant at
the 95% confidence level.
Sampling error
School and College Panel data presented in this report is from a sample of senior leaders
and teachers rather than the total population of school leaders and teachers. Although
the leader sample and the teacher sample have been weighted to be nationally
representative (by school type and by teacher demographics), the data is still subject to
sampling error.
The extent of sampling error depends on:
• The sampling approach. The closer it is to a random sample, the lower the
sampling error. A stratified random sample is preferable as this helps to balance
characteristics that may impact the representativeness of the sample.
• The sample size. Larger samples have lower sampling errors.
• The survey result. Statistics closer to 50% have a higher standard deviation com-
pared to those further away (e.g. 80%).
Table 9 shows the sampling error for the SCP May 2023 wave, based on survey findings
of 50% and 20% or 80%. For example, if all school teachers had answered a question
(rather than 1,478 of them), we can be 95% confident that the ‘true’ value would lie within
a +/- 2.5% range of a 50% response figure (i.e. 47.5% - 52.5%). Results based on a sub-
set of schools surveyed are subject to a wider margin of error. Further methodological
detail for both the SCP and PPLP can be found in the published technical reports.
20
20
School and College Panel Technical Report 2022 to 2023 academic year (publishing.service.gov.uk) and
Parent, Pupil and Learner Panel Technical Report (publishing.service.gov.uk)
76
Table 9: Sampling error in the SCP NBS May 2023 wave
Group
Base
size
Sampling error for
survey findings of
50%
Sampling error for
survey findings of 20%
or 80%
All schools / all leaders 780 ± 3.5% ± 2.8%
All teachers
1,478 ± 2.5% ± 2.0%
All primary schools / all
primary school leaders
447 ± 4.6% ± 3.7%
All secondary schools / all
secondary school leaders
333 ± 5.4% ± 4.3%
All primary teachers
668 ± 3.8% ± 3.0%
All secondary teachers
810 ± 3.4% ± 2.8%
77
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