FAQs for mothers, fathers and parental carers
How do I take part now?
How was I chosen for this study?
What's involved?
Your child's questionnaire
Can I help my child complete the questionnaire?
The online or telephone interview
What if I only live with my child some of the time or my child lives at a different address to me?
What if I need help to complete the interview/survey?
Will anyone know what I say?
How will teachers and schools be involved?
Who is carrying out the study?
Who has approved this research?
What will happen to the information I give?
Do I have to take part?
What if I change my mind after I complete the survey?
Who do I contact if I still have questions, want to seek further information, or verify the research?
How do I take part now?
If you’ve been invited to this study, you should have received a letter and leaflet explaining how to take part. If you can’t find these, you can find them at the Documents for Participating Families page. Alternatively, get in touch with us at Freephone 0800 652 4568, or at FiveToTwelve@natcen.ac.uk.
Please note that a leaflet was not sent to parents who live separately from their child (for all or most of the time) because contact details were obtained during the survey with the child's other parent.
How was I chosen for this study?
You have been invited to take part in Five to Twelve if your family very kindly took part in the study in its first year (2023-2024) when your child was in year 1, or if you are the primary caregiver for a child who is enrolled in the study. Now in its third year, Five to Twelve is a longitudinal study, which is following children as they go through primary school. The study is looking at the experiences of children and their families across England.
In the first year of Five to Twelve, your child and all the children participating in the study were randomly selected from the Department for Education’s National Pupil Database (NPD), which holds details of all pupils in state education in England. We did this to make sure the families we collect data from represent primary school children in England. Around 8,500 families took part in Year 1 of Five to Twelve. Thousands of teachers also very kindly took part.
We are currently inviting families to the third year of Five to Twelve, now that their children are a year older and in year 3 of primary school. Children who are no longer enrolled at school can still take part. Your child and your family’s views are extremely important to us. This is because your child cannot be replaced by another child. Every child in the study is truly unique! We are looking forward to hearing how things are going for you and your family as your child grows up.
What's involved?
Exciting: new child survey for year 3!
This year we would like to invite both you and your child to complete a 10-minute online questionnaire. It is important you complete your questionnaire first so that you can give consent for your child to take part. We would like to hear from you even if your child does not want to take part.
Steps to take part in your questionnaire
- Go to the survey website survey.natcen.ac.uk/FiveToTwelveY3parent
- Enter your personal access code (included on the email and/or letter sent to you)
Steps for your child to complete their questionnaire
- Your child can go to the survey website survey.natcen.ac.uk/FiveToTwelveY3child
- Enter your child’s personal access code (included on the email and/or letter sent to you)
If you have lost your or your child’s personal access code, you can call us on Freephone 0800 652 4568 or email us at FiveToTwelve@natcen.ac.uk.
If you are not able to participate online we may call to invite you to take part over the phone instead. You can also call us to let us know if you would prefer to take part on the phone, on Freephone 0800 652 4568.
Five to Twelve is a longitudinal study, meaning we will ask you to tell us how your child is getting on over several years. This means we will follow up with you again as your child gets older.
Taking part is completely voluntary. If you do take part, you can choose not to answer any question, and you can change your mind and withdraw from the study at any time.
We will get back in touch with you when it is time to take part again. Please let us know here if your contact details change.
Your child's questionnaire
You can access your child’s online questionnaire using their personal access code and link provided on your invitation letter or email. You can also read instructions to take part here. The questionnaire should take around 10 minutes to complete. It is designed for children and should be fun, easy to answer and quick. Your child will watch a short video at the beginning and collect digital stars throughout the questionnaire.
The questionnaire asks about their hobbies, school, friends, feelings and technology.
Can I help my child complete the questionnaire?
We have designed the child questionnaire to be as easy as possible for children to complete by themselves. An audio recording of the words on the screen can be played to help with understanding. You are welcome to stay with the child and help them to understand the answer options. As far as possible, please avoid telling them the answer to the question. If your child needs help to answer the questions, please do help them. Thank you for helping your child to be part of the study.
Your online or telephone questionnaire
You can easily go online to do the interview using the access code and link provided on your invitation letter or email. This questionnaire will take around 10 minutes to complete.
There’s no need to prepare for the interview. You don’t need any special knowledge, we just want to find out about the lives of you and your child, and their experiences of school. Most people enjoy taking part.
Topics covered in this interview include:
- Your child’s experience of school
- Their activities, such as after-school clubs, outside of school
- Their health and any special educational needs
- The home environment and time spent together
- Use of technology in the household
- Your health
- Family finances, living situation and public services
What if I only live with my child some of the time or my child lives at a different address to me?
As part of this study, we are really interested in understanding how mothers, fathers and carers in children’s lives make a difference. In year 1 and 2 of Five to Twelve, we aimed to speak to up to three of the child’s parents and carers. In year 3 we would like to hear from the child’s main parent or carer. The main parent or carer is the person who the child is living with for the majority of their time. We have written to the person who is on our records as the child’s main parent or carer. If you are no longer the child’s main parent or carer, please let us know by calling us on Freephone 0800 652 4568 or emailing us at FiveToTwelve@natcen.ac.uk.
The survey will ask about your education and employment, health and wellbeing, behaviours and your family relationships.
Participating in the survey will not affect the contact you have with your child. No information about whether or not you participate, or any details of anything you say, will be passed to your child or their other parent/parents. Everything you say stays strictly confidential.
What if I need help to complete the interview/survey?
If you need help to complete the interview or the survey, please call us on 0800 652 4568 or email us at FiveToTwelve@natcen.ac.uk. You can do the interview over the phone if you prefer, just let us know.
Will anyone know what I say?
All answers will be kept confidential and anonymous, and shared only with researchers working on the study. It’s up to you if you want to talk to other people about what you tell us.
How will teachers and schools be involved?
In year 1 and 2 of Five to Twelve, we asked parents and carers who took part if they would give us permission to speak to the child’s teacher. In year 3, we will not be getting in touch with the child’s teacher.
Who is carrying out the study?
The study is being carried out by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), the largest independent social research organisation in Britain, commissioned by the Department for Education (DfE). We work in collaboration with the National Children’s Bureau (NCB) and the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER).
Who has approved this research?
The study has been reviewed by an independent group of people called a Research Ethics Committee, to protect your safety, rights, wellbeing and dignity. This study has been given ethical approval by the NatCen Research Ethics Committee A (Reference no. P17959).
What will happen to the information I give?
Once we have collected all the answers from everyone who takes part, they will be looked at together as a group, anonymously. By this, we mean that there will be no names attached to the answers, and we will not know which person said what. We will then write up the findings into published reports. To make the answers you give us even more useful we will attach them to data held by your child’s school. Just like with the other information you give us; this will be done in such a way so that you can’t be identified in the data. There are more details in our privacy notice.
Do I have to take part?
No. We really hope that you will take part and give your views but if you don’t want to, that’s fine. You can stop the interview at any point.
What if I change my mind after I complete the survey?
If you change your mind after completing the survey, or if you no longer want your information to be processed, please get in touch with us as soon as possible using our contact details.
In these cases, it may be possible to remove individual responses. However, in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), where your data is processed under Article 6(1)(e) “processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller”, requests to withdraw your answers at a later date (for example, months or years after the interview) will not be possible. Attempts at withdrawing your information later on would impair the analysis of the results in a robust and consistent way, and therefore reduce the functionality of the study.
Who do I contact if I still have questions, want to seek further information, or verify the research?
As the study progresses, we will keep in touch with study families and will send you updates about what we have found out so far.
The National Centre for Social Research are delivering the study and can answer any questions you may have about the research and your participation. You can contact us using our contact details.
To contact the Department for Education, you can call the main helpline on 0370 000 2288 (Mon-Fri, 9.30am-5pm) or submit your question online at the Gov.uk website. Please quote Five to Twelve study.