Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey 2015: teenage lifestyle trends

2 School

How much pupils like school

Overall, the majority of pupils stated that they liked school 'a lot' or 'a little' ( Figure 2.1). 13 year olds were more likely than 15 year olds to like school (75% of 13 year olds, compared with 64% of 15 year olds). This was due to the difference in proportion who said they like school 'a lot': 25% of 13 year olds, compared with 15% of 15 year olds.

Since 2002, the proportion of pupils who like school has remained fairly static, with only slight fluctuations among most groups. However, between 2010 and 2015, a gap has emerged between 15 year olds boys and girls. This was due to the combination of an increase in the proportion of 15 year old boys who like school (from 64% in 2010 to 69% in 2015), and a small decrease in the proportion of 15 year old girls who like school (from 62% in 2010 to 59% in 2015) in this time period. (Figure 2.1)

Figure 2.1 Proportion of pupils who liked school 'a lot' or 'a little', by age and gender (2002-2015)
Q. How much do you like school at the moment?

Base: all pupils (for full base sizes please see Appendix A)

Feeling pressured by school

It was more common for 15 year olds than 13 year olds to feel strained or pressured by school work a lot of the time (49% of 15 year olds, compared with 22% of 13 year olds).

It is clear from Figure 2.2, that 15 year old girls are more likely to feel pressured by school work a lot than 15 year old boys (or 13 year olds) by some margin. This has been the case since 2002. However, a marked increase in the proportion of 15 year old girls who felt pressured a lot between 2010 and 2015 (from 39% in 2010 to 62% in 2015) has meant that the gap is now much wider ( Figure 2.2)

There has also been an increase from 2010 among 13 year old girls, and from 2013 among 13 and 15 year old boys, in the proportion of pupils feeling strained or pressured by school work. Feeling strained or pressured by school work a lot of the time is now at the highest level it has ever been for all pupils.

Figure 2.2 Proportion of pupils who feel strained or pressured by schoolwork a lot of the time, by age and gender (2002-2015)
Q. How often do you feel strained or pressured by the schoolwork you have to do?

Base: all pupils (for full base sizes please see Appendix A)

Truanting

Thirty-eight percent of all pupils reported that they had truanted at least once, in the last 12 months. 15 year olds were more likely than 13 year olds to have truanted at least once in the past year, but there were no notable differences between boys and girls ( Figure 2.3).

For all groups, the proportion of pupils saying they had truanted at least once in the last year had been declining between 2006 and 2013. However, this trend has now halted and the proportion who had truanted at least once in the last 12 months increased for all groups, except 15 year old boys ( Figure 2.3).

Nevertheless, the proportions of pupils who say they have truanted at least once over the last year has declined since 2002.

Figure 2.3 Proportion of pupils who have truanted at least once in the last year, by age and gender (2002-2015)
Q. In the past year, how many times did you skip or skive school?

Base: all pupils (for full base sizes please see Appendix A)

Exclusion

Only a small proportion of pupils had been excluded from secondary school: 10% of 15 year olds and 9% of 13 year olds.

15-year-old boys were more likely than 15-year-old girls to have been excluded, however, there was no notable difference between 13-year-old boys and girls ( Figure 2.4).

The proportion of pupils who had ever been excluded has been declining steadily over time (with the exception of an unusual dip in 2006). There has been no change between 2013 and 2015.

Figure 2.4 Proportion of pupils who have been excluded from secondary school, by age and gender (2002-2015)
Q. Since you started secondary school, have you been excluded

Base: all pupils (for full base sizes please see Appendix A)

Expectations after school

In this section, only 15 year olds are considered as they are more likely than 13 year olds to have given greater thought to what they will be doing once they finish school.

More than half of 15 year olds (55%) thought they were most likely to go to university when they left school. Fifteen per cent thought they would go on to further education college, 8% into employment and a further 8% thought they would be doing an apprenticeship.

It was more common for 15 year old girls than 15 year old boys to think that would go on to university once they finished school (63% of girls, compared with 46% of boys), whereas boys were more likely than girls to think that they would go straight into employment (10% of boys, compared with 5% of girls) or do an apprenticeship (13% of boys, compared with 3% of girls). In addition, a higher proportion of boys than girls did not know what they would be doing ( Figure 2.5).

Since 2002, there has been a large increase in the proportion of 15 year old girls who think they will undertake a university degree after leaving school. In the same time period, there has been a decline in the proportion who think they will go to a further education college, suggesting a move away from further education colleges in favour of attending university. A similar trend can be seen for 15 year old boys, although to a much lesser extent ( Figures 2.6 and 2.7).

One of the most notable changes since 2013 has been the decline in the proportion of 15 year old pupils who think they will go straight into employment, after a peak in 2010. The proportion of 15 year olds who do not know what they will do after school, has increased notably since 2013 ( Figure 2.6 and 2.7).

Figure 2.5 Post-school expectations among 15 year olds, by gender (2015)
Q. Which one of these do you think you are most likely to be doing when you leave school?

Base: 15 year old boys (5,732), 15 year old girls (5,664)

Figure 2.6 Post-school expectations among 15 year old boys (2002-2015)
Q. Which one of these do you think you are most likely to be doing when you leave school?

Base: all pupils (for full base sizes please see Appendix A)

Figure 2.7 Post-school expectations among 15 year old girls (2002-2015)
Q. Which one of these do you think you are most likely to be doing when you leave school?

Base: all pupils (for full base sizes please see Appendix A)