The #BeeWell Survey

Our comprehensive survey gathers the thoughts and feelings of young people each year, to determine trends in their wellbeing (and the factors that influence these). It enables consistency of measurement, and facilitates meaningful and standardised comparisons based on the powerful messages young people themselves are giving us. 

The #BeeWell survey is divided into two sections that together encompass what matters most to young people. The first section is for the “domains” of wellbeing, in other words, different aspects of wellbeing. The second section is for the “drivers” of wellbeing, in other words, the different influences on wellbeing.  

The #BeeWell survey in Greater Manchester (GM) was created in collaboration with young people in 15 pathfinder schools across the city-region. This was important to understand what wellbeing means to young people, what factors influence their wellbeing and what makes them thrive. These workshops were combined with inputs from a Questionnaire Advisory Group of mental health professionals, healthcare representatives, education experts, parents, teachers, and young people, amongst others, to inform the themes covered by the questionnaire.  

The same pathfinder process was followed to adapt the #BeeWell survey for Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth & Southampton (HIPS), gathering views and input from 200 young people in 15 pathfinder schools across the region to ensure the survey accurately reflected what wellbeing meant to them. Find out more about this process in this blog post: #BeeWell Survey Design: Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth & Southampton.

In partnership with staff and pupils across non-mainstream settings, we have also produced accessible short form and symbol versions of the surveys for both GM and HIPS. 

Please note there have been small changes to the #BeeWell survey in Greater Manchester since it’s initial publication. This includes:

• Note that the ‘Safe area to live’ item changed in 2022 from ‘I feel safe in the area where I live.’ to ‘How safe do you feel when in your local area? By “local area”, we mean the area within about 5 minutes walking distance of your home.’ to facilitate work with Policing, Crime, Criminal Justice and Fire – accordingly, caution is required when comparing 2021 and 2022 data).
•  In 2023/24, we will be adding two additional questions to this year’s #BeeWell survey, which asks young people if they were born in the U.K, and if their parent/carers were. We are asking this question as research shows that young people with an immigrant background may encounter specific difficulties that make them more vulnerable to experiencing lower wellbeing, and our #BeeWell partners will be able to use this research to support this cohort of young people with their wellbeing. Find out more about this research, from the OECD, here.
• We have also added an additional question this year to ask young people if they consider themselves to be transgender. This is following feedback from young people working on the Proud to #BeeWell project.