About the study 

Five to Twelve is a national study of around 8,600 children attending primary school in England in the 2020s. The study has been commissioned and funded by the Department for Education (DfE). By following the same group of children and their families for a number of years, the study aims to understand how children’s school, home life and relationships shape their future education, development and outcomes. As such, we intend to speak to the children and their fathers, mothers and parental carers each year as their children move through primary school, and possibly beyond.

It is vital that we hear from every father, mother and/or parental carer living with or in contact with each child, to make sure that all perspectives are represented and that we get a well-rounded picture of each child's life and school experiences. This includes fathers and mothers who live separately from their child for all or most of the time, and those who did not take part in this research study last year. Each person takes part separately and will not see the responses give by anyone else in their child's family. 

The study is being carried out by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), the largest independent social research organisation in Britain. We work in collaboration with the National Children’s Bureau (NCB), the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) as well as an advisory group of academics.    

Please see the Taking Part and Frequently Asked Questions pages for details on what’s involved.

Related studies

Five to Twelve is part of an exciting series of national studies funded by the Department for Education (DfE), about different stages of childhood and adolescence, from birth through to young adulthood. By following children and their mothers, fathers and parental carers over time, the studies aim to understand how children’s experiences throughout their early years, primary school and secondary school impact their experiences and outcomes as they grow older.

Children of the 2020s

Children of the 2020s is a national research study focusing on the development of children born in the 2020s as they go through the early years of their lives, before they begin attending school. For more information, visit their website CLS | Children of the 2020s Study (ucl.ac.uk).