Why was I chosen to take part in the study?

Over 21,000 young people who were in Year 9 in school in 2004 were asked to take part in the study (from a total of more than 650,000 young people in Year 9 at that time). You were selected to give an accurate picture of the whole country, and therefore your views can not be replaced with anyone else’s.

Why is it relevant to me?

We need to speak to a representative sample of all young people across England , to ensure we find out the views of all young people. There is a wide range of topics covered in the study, including what you are currently doing, your hobbies and things you do in your spare time, your thoughts on education and your aspirations for the future. Of course everyone is different, and you will all be doing different activities, and have different thoughts on these topics.

When we have spoken to you in the past you may have found and continue to find that some questions were more relevant to you than others. We have to include a wide range of questions to capture all the different activities you may be doing and what you think of them. The Department for Education (previously known as the Department for Children, Schools and Families) need this information to improve services to all young people, not just those of you in education, therefore we are interested to hear from ALL of you.

There are other Government Departments involved in the study, such as the Department for Work and Pensions, and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, however there are many other Government Departments that are interested in your views and experiences. This year we will be asking about a wider range of topics than we have in previous years.