English teenagers’ sense of “belonging” at secondary school among lowest in the world –and declining –new international survey reveals

Hard-working, but not "belonging"? New TIMSS data poses more questions on English pupils' sense of wellbeing. Image (posed by model); iStock/Getty Images

England’s teenagers have a lower sense of “belonging” at school than their peers in almost all other countries, data compiled as part of one of the world’s largest comparative testing systems has revealed.

Some 36 per cent of English 14-year-olds, taking part in the Trends in International Maths and Science Survey (TIMSS) had “little sense” of belonging at school, the survey based on student questionnaires completed last year found.

The country performed third-worst on this measure out of 43 nations, behind only Cyprus (38 per cent) and the Czech Republic (37 per cent). The international average for this measure, which incorporates answers to questions including how much the child likes school, was 21 per cent.

Recent trends

England’s trends in this unwanted ranking also make for alarming reading, further analysis of recent TIMSS datasets, taking into account the latest results which were published yesterday, reveals.