Executive Summary
Young People across Dorset , Bournemouth , Christchurch , Poole and Hampshire are facing unprecedented uncertainty in the wake of COVID- 19 . They told us that lockdown and home learning have had a negative effect and impacted future choices of many young people .
Following on from our 2020 report Barriers to Education , Dorset ’ s and SUN Young Researchers designed and delivered a survey focussed particularly for 14-18 year olds across Southern England . 1263 young people across Dorset , Bournemouth , Christchurch , Poole and Hampshire answered the survey ! Young people told SUN ' s Young Researchers about : 1 . Young people ’ s mental health 2 . Covid-19 ’ s impact on making future choices 3 . Covid-19 ’ s impact on motivation of young people 4 . Extra support and guidance needed when making decisions about the future Young Researcher " HEADLINE " findings include :
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72 % of young people said that anxiety and stress had negatively impacted their decisions about their future . This is an increase from the 38 % of young people who said anxiety and stress had negatively impacted their learning in a previous study . Anxiety and stress had more of a negative effect on girls ( 72 %) compared to boys regarding making decisions about their futures ( 60 %) The most popular next steps for young people were still sixth form and University .
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Young people told us that those who were already certain what they wanted to do in the future had not changed their minds , but those unsure about what they want to do in the future had seen a dip in motivation due to current uncertainty . 27 % of young people said they were not motivated to make decisions about their future because of recent events . 45 % of young people with a diagnosed mental health condition were not motivated to make decisions about their future because of recent events . The number of young people with a mental health condition wanting to go to University dropped from 56 % pre-Covid , to 47 % currently . 88 % of young people said they can rely on their parents or carers to support them when making decisions about their future . 48 % of young people said they always receive enough support from their family to make decisions about their future , a 6 % fall from the pre-Covid survey . The biggest barrier that young people faced in planning their education was not knowing what opportunities were available ( 61 %) followed by cost ( 41 %). 50 % of young people didn ’ t have opportunities to speak about future choices in their place of learning .
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