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Secondary School Children's Health and Well-being Dashboard: School Health Research Network (SHRN) Survey Data



Publication date: 8th May 2025

 

>>> Link to the Dashboard <<<

 

    Complete Data Download (2017-2023)
    Response Rates Download (2017-2023)
    Dashboard User Guide 

 

Summary:

Problematic Social Media Use 

  • 10% of all boys and 18% of girls in Wales in 2023 were classified as a problematic user of social media. 
  • Girls from low (21%) and middle (19%) affluence households were more likely to be classified as problematic users than those from high affluence households (16%). 
  • Over 1 in 5 girls (21%) in Year 9 and Year 10 were classified as problematic users of social media, double that of boys (10%) in the same year groups in 2023.

Emotional Health (frequency of ailments) 

  • More than half of girls (54%) in Wales reported experiencing feelings of low mood, irritability, nervousness, or trouble getting to sleep, while only about one-third of boys (32%) reported the same issues. 
  • Girls in lower affluence households (61%) were more likely to experience the above than those from higher affluence households (49%). 
  • In Wales, girls were twice as likely to feel nervous (46%) than boys (23%). Girls were also more likely to experience low mood (40%) compared to boys (22%).

E-cigarettes/ Vaping 

  • There was a rise in students who had tried vaping - 26% of all students tried vaping in 2023, up from 20% in 2021. 
  • Over half of Year 11 girls (50%) had tried vaping in 2023 which was nearly double the national average in Wales for that year (26%). 
  • When all students were asked about the frequency of their vaping, Year 11 girls reported the highest weekly (19%) and daily (14%) use compared to all other year groups and genders. This was significantly higher than the weekly (7%) and daily (5%) average for Wales.

Gambling 

  • Boys were more likely to spend their own money on gambling compared to girls. 14% of boys reported spending their own money on gambling in the last 7 days compared to just 8% of girls. 
  • Boys showed increased gambling behaviours with increasing age with 19% of boys gambling at age 16. This trend was not seen in girls with gambling staying around 8% for all ages.

Physical activity and exercise 

  • In 2023, the percentage of children meeting physical activity guidelines has risen back to levels last seen in 2017 with 23% reported in boys and 14% in girls. Although welcome, this means a large majority of children are still not meeting recommended levels. 
  • Physical activity tends to decline with age/school year. 
  • In 2023, the percentage of children living in high affluence households taking part in vigorous exercise outside of school time at least 4 times a week was 45%, whilst in low affluence households it was 32%.
  • Overall, there was a large gap between the percentage of boys versus girls taking part in exercise outside of school at 49% and 31% respectively. 

Bullying 

  • Recent trends show a rise in bullying among younger people
    • In 2021“Bullying others” was 15%, compared to 19% in 2023. 
    • Reports of “Been bullied” was 32% in 2021 and increased to 38% in 2023. 
    • Cyberbullying was reported at 18% in 2021, compared to 21% in 2023.  
  • This coincides with a growing sense of social isolation, as fewer young people feel they can rely on their friends, with only 61% in 2023 reporting they could, compared with 67% in 2017. 

Mental wellbeing 

  • There is an upward trend between 2019 and 2023 in higher scores within the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) which measures psychological problems and strengths, with notable differences between gender.  A higher overall score indicates poorer mental health. 
  • In 2023, 42% of females scored high or very high compared to 27% of males. Females in years 9 and 10 exhibit the highest scores across all year groups. 

 Fruit and Veg 

  • The inequality gap between students reporting to eat at least one portion of fruit or veg per day by family affluence scale is widening over time. In 2023, 53% of students from high affluence families report eating at least one portion of fruit or veg per day compared with 36% from low affluence families.   
  • There is an overall trend in younger year groups reporting a higher percentage of fruit or veg intake compared to older year groups. In 2023, 50% of year 7’s report eating one portion compared with 44% of year 11’s. 

School life 

  • There is an upward trend, particularly for girls feeling a lot of pressure from schoolwork in Wales. In 2017, 28% reported experiencing this pressure, rising to 36% in 2023.  
  • Students who feel unhappy, worried or unable to cope report a decline in support at school throughout the years. In 2017, 73% of students reporting they had school support, falling to 59% in 2023. 

 

Public Health Wales has released an interactive dashboard presenting updated survey results on the health and well-being of secondary school-aged children in Wales.


This is a collaborative piece of work between The School Health Research Network and Public Health Wales. This update will provide further insights into the health and well-being of secondary school children across Wales, helping users to understand the current situation and make informed decisions that positively impact young people. The dashboard contains 38 different topics for the four years of the survey (2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023) with views available for gender, age, year group, family affluence and different geographic levels.


The dashboard comes with a full data download that includes the number of students who responded to the question and the total number of students who were asked. It also includes a download for exclusion and response rates. The charts created within the dashboard are all available to download along with a data table to accompany it, replacing the National Report from 2023 onwards previously published by DECIPHer. The dashboard is under development and will receive additional indicators and breakdowns in the future. Please see the proposed publication timetable section below for further information.


The dashboard enables the ongoing assessment of young people’s health in Wales, both nationally and regionally, and opportunities to understand trends in adolescent health and well-being.  For further information on the survey please see the SHRN website and the Dashboard User Guide on how to use the dashboard.

 

Feedback

We are always looking to improve on the products we produce to ensure that they are user-friendly. If you have any comments or feedback, then please get in touch by email.

We welcome calls and correspondence in Welsh. We will respond in Welsh without delay.

Webinar & Dashboard Demo - 17/10/24

        Publication date:  8th May 2025

2023 indicator update for following "new" indicators:

  • Tried e-cigarettes
  •  Frequency of ailments Feeling low
  • Frequency of ailments Irritability or bad temper
  • Frequency of ailments Feeling nervous
  • Frequency of ailments Difficulties in getting to sleep
  • Frequency of ailments combine 2 or more of above
  • Loneliness summer holidays 
  • Eating habits - Sweets
  • Age first smoke cigarette (Year 11: under 13)
  • Current e-cigarette use weekly
  • Current e-cigarette use daily
  • Age first used e-cigarette (Year 11: under 13)
  • Age first drank alcohol (Year 11: under 13)
  • Age first got drunk  (Year 11: under 13)
  • Percentage of children who have 2 or more health behaviours National Indicator - please see Welsh Government website for data
  • Age first used cannabis (Year 11: under 13)
  • Gambled in last 7 days
  • LARC (subject to number of responses)
  • Emergency contraception (subject to number of responses)
  • Other contraception (subject to number of responses)
  • Age first had sex (Year 11: under 13)
  • School involvement - own ideas taken seriously
  • School involvement - planning
  • School involvement - chances to decide
  • School involvement - belonging
  • Teacher accept me
  • Teachers trust
  • Teacher talk to
  • Cyberbullied someone
  • Problematic social media use (score above 6)

 

Publication date:  Summer (tbc) 2025

2023 indicator update for following "new" indicators:

  • Age first smoke cigarette range of ages
  • Age first used e-cigarette range of ages
  • Age first drank alcohol range of ages
  • Age first got drunk range of ages
  • Age first used cannabis range of ages
  • Age first had sex range of ages
  • Feel about school (like it a lot)
  • Friends - help me*              
  • Friends - share joys and sorrows*
  • Friends - talk about my problems*
  • Social media use (Social media disorder scale)
  • Family support - emotional help
  • Family support - tries to help
  • Family support - talk about problems
  • Family support - willing help make decisions
  • All responses SDQ (total score)
  • All responses SDQ (emotional problems scale score)
  • All responses SDQ (conduct problems scale score)
  • All responses SDQ (hyperactivity scale score)
  • All responses SDQ (peer problems scale score)
  • All responses SDQ (prosocial behaviour scale score)
  • Cigarette sources
  • e-cig sources
  • Feel about school (all responses)
  • School truancy
  • School exclusion
  • Online contact
  • Including breakdown on ethnicity for 2023 data only

 

Publication date:  Summer 2025 (tbc)

          Update of new indicators with historic data.

 

Accessibility statement

This accessibility statement applies to the Secondary School Children’s Health and Well-Being Dashboard. This is run by Public Health Wales. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. For example, that means you should be able to:

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We have also made the website text as simple as possible to understand.  AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability.


Accessibility on this website is guided by government standards and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). WCAG are widely accepted as the international standard for accessibility on the web.
 

Whilst we aim to make this website accessible to all users and achieve a WCAG conformance level 'AA'; we continually work with stakeholders to ensure that conformance level 'A' is adhered to as a minimum.

Our assessment found that the website currently meets 73% of WCAG 2.2 AA success criteria. However, 27% of the criteria are not met, meaning some users may experience barriers when accessing certain content and functionality.

The Recite Me translation and text-to-speech features on this website are automated. There may be inaccuracies and inconsistencies in the translations. The official text is the English/Welsh version of the website. If you experience any accessibility issue on this site or have any comment, please contact us.

How accessible this website is
Version 4, published 8/5/2025
We know some parts of this website are not fully accessible:

  • Parts of some pages may not work well with Assistive Technologies such as screen readers
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  • Some buttons and links do not have accessible descriptions
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Technical information about this website's accessibility
Public Health Wales is committed to making its website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

Compliance status
This website is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard, due to the non-compliances and exemptions listed below.  

Non-accessible content
The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations
Version 4, published 8/5/2025


Whilst we endeavour to meet ‘WCAG 2.2 AA’ we currently have the following non-compliance issues:

1.3 Adaptable

1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose

1.4 Distinguishable

1.4.1 Use of Color

1.4.5 Images of Text

1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus

2.1 Keyboard Accessible

2.1.1 Keyboard

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2.4.3 Focus Order

2.4.4 Link Purpose

2.3.13 Focus Appearance

3.1 Readable

3.1.1 Language of Page

4.1 Compatible

4.1.1 Parsing (Obsolete and removed)

4.1.2 Name, Role and Value

4.1.3 Status Messages
 

Preparation of this accessibility statement
This statement was prepared in May 2025. It will be reviewed in May 2026.
This website was last tested in March 2025 by ourselves using the FastPass Accessibility Insights for Web extension.