Young Persons Behaviour & Attitudes Survey 2025: Mental Health & Wellbeing

Date published: 30 October 2026

The Young Persons Behaviour & Attitudes Survey (YPBAS) is a school based survey carried out among 11-16 year olds (school years 8 to 12). It is commissioned jointly by a number of government departments and includes questions on a wide range of topics. Nine rounds of the survey have now taken place: 2000, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2022 and 2025. This publication presents an overview of the mental health and wellbeing modules from the 2025 survey.

Key Findings:

• Overall, since the last Young Persons’ Behaviour and Attitudes Survey in 2022, certain aspects of Mental Health and Wellbeing have improved:
• The proportion of young people reporting definite mental health concerns has fallen from 19% in 2022 to 13% in 2025.
• Pupils exhibiting signs of loneliness on the UCLA Loneliness Scale decreased from 37% in 2022 to 28% in 2025.
• The Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale mean score has increased from 21.1 in 2022 to 22.3 in 2025 (with a higher score suggesting higher mental wellbeing).
• When asked whether they ever had concerns or worries about their mental health, 13% of respondents indicated they definitely have had concerns and a further 34% indicated to some extent. The corresponding findings from the previous survey in 2022 were 19% and 32%.
• Almost half (46%) of those who had concerns sought help for their concerns (up from 35% in 2022), with family members being the most likely that respondents would turn to for help. The most common reason noted for not seeking help was that they felt they could handle things on their own.
• More than a quarter (28%) of respondents exhibited signs of loneliness by scoring six or more on the UCLA loneliness scale (down from 37% in 2022, but similar to 30% in 2019).
• Girls were more likely than boys to report feeling that they have no-one to talk to, left out or alone and were nearly twice as likely to indicate signs of loneliness (37% of girls compared with 20% of boys).
• On the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, girls had a lower mean wellbeing score than boys.
• The majority of respondents (97%) used at least one social media site and of those who did so, 88% reported using it daily or on most days. 
• On a typical school day, two-thirds of girls (65%) and half of boys (54%) use social media for more than 2 hours.
• The proportion of girls (47%) that compare themselves to others on social media was more than two times that for boys (19%).