The age at which pupils start to enjoy school less has been revealed in a new study .
Professor John Jerrim from the UCL Social Research Institute found that more than a quarter of pupils begin to disengage from school during year 7, the first year of secondary school. This year is seen as a critical point in children’s education as they transition into new and often bigger school environments, and engagement levels never fully recover for most pupils.
The findings suggest long term consequences for pupils’ academic outcomes and wellbeing if this early dip in engagement is not addressed.
Disadvantaged pupils and girls report the biggest falls, with those eligible for Free School Meals reporting lower levels of trust, enjoyment and belonging at school. This gap widens throughout secondary school. Girls are more likely to feel unsafe or worried, particularly in years 7 to 9 (age 11 to 14), despite showing higher academic drive than boys.
Author Professor John Jerrim said: “This report shows a big contrast between how children feel about primary and secondary school, and what we’re most concerned about is how levels of enjoyment, trust, agency and safety drop dramatically among year 7 pupils.”
Professor Jerrim found that primary school pupils are more likely to believe that hard work at school will lead to success compared to other phases of education. They scored 8.4 out of 10 for the statement ‘my marks are my responsibility’, compared to 6.8 for secondary pupils.
The most engaged secondary pupils with the top 25% of engagement scores were also 10% less likely to report persistent absences than the 25% least engaged. Being less engaged was also associated with consistently arriving late to school, which contributes significantly to a loss of learning over the course of the school year.
For the report, Professor Jerrim tracked over 80,000 pupils across England through The Engagement Platform (TEP), creating the most comprehensive picture yet of pupil engagement for the 2024-25 academic year.
