The survey aimed to identify what the phrase ‘ready to learn’ means to young people.

It attempted to identify the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the current cost of living crisis on young people’s readiness to learn. It asked young people about barriers to being ‘ready to learn’. Finally, it asked about levels of engagement with school and how much survey respondents enjoyed attending school. Demographic questions were asked to allow for analysis of survey responses across different demographic groups.

1,035 complete responses were received to the survey from young people in all 32 local authorities and aged 11 to 25.

A 17-year-old from Midlothian said:

“You can have as favourable environmental conditions in the classroom as you like, or the best teacher in the school or well-organised and detailed notes. However, if the most crucial time, in person teaching time, is disadvantaged by disruptive classmates, it really does hinder my learning process.”