Schools Health Education Unit (SHEU) Survey 2025/26

Understanding the health and wellbeing of children and young people is important for identifying local needs, recognising inequalities and supporting the development of services and interventions. Information about young people's experiences can also help provide a broader picture of the factors that influence their health, including their home, school and social environments.

The Schools and Students Health Education Unit (SHEU) is an independent research organisation that carries out health and wellbeing surveys with children and young people. The SHEU survey provides a local picture of pupils' experiences and can be adapted to reflect local priorities. Questions cover a range of topics, including emotional health and wellbeing, physical activity, healthy lifestyles, relationships, school experiences and online safety.

The findings help identify where some groups of children and young people may have different experiences and outcomes. We aim to repeat the survey on a biennial basis, allowing changes in experiences and behaviours to be monitored over time.

A range of education settings can be invited to take part, including primary and secondary schools, special schools and alternative provision. The survey is commonly completed by pupils in Years 4 and 6 in primary schools and Years 8 and 10 in secondary schools, although other year groups may also be included depending on local requirements.

In Bedford Borough, data was collected during the 2025–2026 academic year from pupils in Years 4, 6, 8 and 10. A total of 26 schools took part, with 2,670 pupils completing the survey.

The survey provides insight into how children and young people in Bedford Borough view their health, wellbeing and everyday experiences. The findings show a mixture of positive outcomes and areas where further support may be beneficial, with some experiences differing between groups of pupils.

Headlines

The headline findings from the 2025 survey highlight the following:

• 77% of primary school pupils felt ‘quite happy’ or ‘very happy’ with their life. This was lower at 60% for secondary school pupils.

• 21% of primary school pupils worry ‘quite a lot’ or ‘a lot’ about someone using alcohol or drugs

• 25% of secondary school pupils had nothing to eat for breakfast the morning of the survey

Overall, this data suggests the health, wellbeing and experiences of children and young people in Bedford Borough is broadly similar to other places with a comparable profile.

Further information on the Bedford Borough SHEU survey findings is available through the following resources:  

Download the survey infographic

Short videos summarising the key findings from the Bedford Borough SHEU survey.

Primary school findings — with graphs

Key findings presented with supporting graphs.

Primary school findings — without graphs

A version focusing on key findings without graphs.

Secondary school findings

Key findings from the secondary school survey.