YorSay: School health and wellbeing survey 2026
YorSay: School health and wellbeing survey 2026
The School Health and Wellbeing Survey 2026 gives children and young people across York the opportunity to share their views on health, wellbeing and what it’s really like growing up in the city today.
Delivered by the Public Health team at City of York Council, in partnership with the University of York, the survey is free and open to all state-funded primary, secondary, and sixth-form schools in York, including academies.
It will run from Monday 2 March and close on Friday 17 July 2026, with reports shared in the first half of the Autumn term 2026.
The findings support service planning and decision-making across education, health and wider services.
If you would like more information about the survey, or if you are a school interested in taking part, please contact the Public Health team via email [email protected].
Parent information sheet
Please read this information sheet carefully. Let us know if anything is unclear or your child would like further information.
- Purpose of the study
- The research team
- What this means for your child
- Participation is voluntary
- Anonymity and confidentiality
- Storing and using your child’s data
- Questions or concerns
- Additional resources
Purpose of the study
YorSay aims to provide a snapshot assessment of youth health and wellbeing needs across the City of York. To do this, we are inviting young people aged 8-18 years old (school years 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12) to complete the YorSay survey, which includes a range of age-appropriate physical and mental health measures. We will then work with City of York Council and local schools to use insights from the survey to improve youth health and wellbeing.
The research team
The project is a collaboration between City of York Council and the research team, led by Dr. Beth T. Bell (University of York). My name is Trish and I am a member of the research team at the University of York.
What this means for your child
We are recruiting primary and secondary school students aged 8-18 years old to complete the YorSay survey. Surveys will be completed during school time. The YorSay survey includes self-report measures of the following:
- Demographic data including postcode, age, ethnicity, gender, carer status, service child status, special educational need and disability status, receipt of free school meals, sexuality (ages 12-18 only).
- Health data including questions on dental hygiene, diet and nutrition, physical activity and sleep patterns.
- Risk behaviour including technology use, gambling, vape use, cigarette use, alcohol use, drug use (ages 12-18 only) and crime (ages 12-18 only).
- Wellbeing measures including general wellbeing, self-esteem (ages 12-18 only), emotional difficulties, life satisfaction (overall and domain specific) and self-harm (ages 12-18 only).
- Relationships including peer victimisation, social support, sexual behaviour (ages 12-18 only) and problematic relationships (ages 12-18 only).
- School attendance.
The survey will take no longer than thirty minutes to complete.
Participation is voluntary
Participation is optional – it is up to you and your child to decide whether or not to take part. If you do not want your child to take part in the study, then please contact your child’s school. If you would like your child to take part, they will also be given the choice to participate or not.
If your child agrees to take part but then changes their mind, then they can withdraw their participation without having to provide a reason, at any time during the survey. Unfortunately, you and your child will not be able to withdraw their data after the survey is completed as the data they provide will not be linked to them.
We recognise that health and wellbeing can be sensitive topics for some and would encourage your child not to take part if you think that completing the survey would be difficult for them. Please let your child’s school know.
Anonymity and confidentiality
The data your child provides will not contain their name but may be identifiable due to the demographic data they provide (e.g., ethnicity, carer status, age). This is especially the case for students with rare combinations of characteristics. Only members of the research team and selected personnel at City of York Council will have access to this potentially identifiable data and it will be stored securely.
If your child discloses any information to the research team that indicates they or someone they know may be at risk of harm (e.g., suicide, abuse), we are required to disclose this information to the named safeguarding lead within your child’s school. Because we are not collecting your child’s name, we cannot pick out specifically which child may be at risk but can flag if any responses indicated risk. Your child will be made aware of this before they complete the survey. Your child’s school can choose to withdraw from the study at anytime up to within 30 days of survey completion.
Storing and using your child’s data
Data will be stored on a secure university-based password protected system. The data your child supplies will be used in three ways: [1] to understand youth health and wellbeing in your child’s school; [2] to understand youth health and wellbeing at the city-level in York; and [3] to advance academic understandings of youth health and wellbeing more widely. Data will only ever be used in anonymous and aggregate form (for example, percentages) and will be published in different formats, for example, presentations, reports and academic publications. Your child will not be identifiable in any report.
Any potentially identifiable data will be deleted within three years of study completion (30th November 2029 at the latest). A fully anonymised version of the dataset (e.g., with potentially identifiable data removed and appropriate data suppression applied to protect anonymity of those with rare combinations of characteristics) will be stored indefinitely in the UK Data Service where it may be accessed by other researchers with permission from the research team.
Questions or concerns
If you or your child have any questions about this participant information sheet or concerns about how their data is being processed, please contact Beth Bell by email [email protected], or the Chair of Ethics Committee via email [email protected]. If you or your child are still dissatisfied, please contact the University’s Data Protection Officer via [email protected]
Please keep this information sheet for your own records. Thank you for taking the time to engage with this information.
If you DO NOT want your child to take part in this study, then please contact your child’s school. Please see your letter for contact details.
Thank you for taking the time to engage with this information.
Additional resources
Health and wellbeing can be a sensitive topic. If your child does not feel comfortable talking about this, then they should not take part. If you would like more information and/or support about your child’s health and wellbeing then the following resources are available to you:
- The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) provides free resources and guidance for parents wishing to discuss health and wellbeing with their child
- Childline – free, private and confidential service for young people, whatever their worries
- Raise York Young People’s Survival Guide
- City of York Council Healthy Child Service
