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Today, the latest results from the OECD’s PISA study were released. PISA is an international assessment of 15-year-olds across over 80 countries and is used to compare international educational standards over time. #BeeWell was founded four years ago in response to PISA’s 2018 report which revealed with distressing clarity that the wellbeing of young people in the UK falls short of almost every other country surveyed.
The latest results show that the wellbeing of young people in the UK remains stubbornly low. Average life satisfaction of young people in the UK is the 2nd lowest in the OECD ahead of only Turkey. The UK scores 4th from bottom amongst 74 participating countries. As a nation, we continue to fail to prioritise the wellbeing of our young people.
#BeeWell believes that young people’s wellbeing is as important as their academic attainment. Compared to other countries, it’s clear that we fail to recognise this. We need to listen to young people and drive action across society to improve their wellbeing in the areas that they themselves identify as important.
This autumn, #BeeWell has continued to amplify the voices of young people and heard from 38,000 students in years 8 and 10. Over 280 schools in Greater Manchester, Hampshire, The Isle of Wight, Portsmouth, and Southampton have taken part since 2021. Together with schools, the NHS, local authorities, and the rest of civil society we’ll be acting on the results of those surveys to improve young people’s wellbeing.
We’re renewing our call for the consistent measurement of young people’s wellbeing across all schools nationally to drive change that reaches young people in all corners of the country. Since our first survey in 2021 we’ve already seen the transformational impact this can have and are committed to seeing the #BeeWell approach implemented nationally by 2030.
And we’re not alone: parents are calling for schools to measure the wellbeing of their pupils and teachers agree that wellbeing should be measured at least once a year. We urge all those who care about the wellbeing of our young people to demand a national response that prioritises both wellbeing and attainment. Let’s make young people’s wellbeing everybody’s business.
James Robertson,
National Director, #BeeWell
Download this statement as a pdf, here.
Watch a video from James introducing our response to PISA, here.
