Credit: Lucy Pope for UCL IOE.

22 March 2025

By Jane Perryman and Sandra Leaton Gray

When researchers visit schools to ask young people about their experiences of moving up to secondary school, a number of recurring themes emerge. Pupils anticipate new uniforms, the chance to study new subjects in specialist classrooms, access to advanced equipment, opportunities to meet new teachers, join extracurricular clubs and form new friendships.

However, alongside this excitement, many also experience anxiety. Concerns about navigating a larger school site, managing increased academic demands, encountering bullying and struggling to establish friendships are common. Schools are well aware of these challenges and have long developed robust strategies to ease the transition. Liaison with primary schools, induction days and structured pastoral support ensure that by the end of the first term most students have settled in and adjusted to secondary school life.

Five years ago, however, this well-established process was profoundly disrupted. The Covid-19 pandemic meant that many young people arrived at secondary school with highly fragmented educational experiences, varying levels of academic preparedness and, in some cases, significant social and emotional challenges. As parents of sons in the suddenly disrupted Year 6/7 cohort, we wondered what we could do to help. In response, our research at IOE, supported by the UCL Coronavirus Response Fund, sought to identify the most effective strategies to support Year 7 pupils at that time. The recommendations we developed emphasised relationship-building over immediate academic catch-up, flexibility in routines, digital literacy training and a focus on physical activity and wellbeing. (more…)

4 September 2020

By Sandra Leaton Gray and Jane Perryman

When researchers visit schools to ask young people about their experiences of moving up to secondary school, there are a number of repeating themes. They are excited by the idea of new school uniforms, learning new subjects in specialist rooms, using special equipment, meeting new teachers, joining interesting clubs, and making new friends.

However, moving up to secondary school can also cause young people to develop worries. Things like getting lost on a large school site, having lots of homework, being bullied, and not having enough friends will often cause concern. Schools are well aware of this phenomenon, of course, and generally handle young people’s anxieties very well, which means that by the end of the first term, the vast majority have settled into their new educational homes and can barely remember what it was like being at primary school. The strategies used by secondary schools to encourage this settling in process include liaising closely with primary staff, welcoming Year 6 pupils in for taster days, and visiting them in their primary schools. It’s a robust formula based on research into the relationship between adolescent development, socialisation and school attainment, and it’s something UK schools usually do pretty well.

This year it’s very different. Many young people have not been in school since March, and others have had little (more…)