Two million children unhappy in school, nationwide survey finds

Two million children are unhappy in school, according to a new nationwide survey from Parentkind.

The survey found that 900,00 children found lessons “boring”, but poorer children and children with special educational needs were less likely to be happy with school. 

It comes as Parentkind launched the 2025 edition of its National Parent Survey, the UK’s largest annual parent poll, which was conducted in partnership with The Times and The Sunday Times, and powered by YouGov. 

While the survey did find that eight out of 10 children are happy in school most of the time, one in five children (20%) were only happy “sometimes, rarely or never” at school, equating to two million unhappy children. 

The survey also found that children growing up with households that had an income of lower than £20,000 were three times as likely to be unhappy as those with an income of over £100,000. 

According to the survey, over 90% of children in households with an income over £100,000 were happy at school most or all of the time. 

Jason Elsom, CEO of Parentkind, said: “This year we have sought parents’ views on the special educational needs crisis, crime and their children’s safety, their own loneliness, their children’s happiness, behaviour, discipline and much more.  

“Our aim is to provide clarity to policymakers, researchers and those supporting parents through the challenges they face. The National Parent Survey is a call to action for governments across the nations to help parents as they do the most important job any of us will ever do.” 

He added: “Children spend the vast majority of their childhood outside of a classroom, but we spend very little time talking about what happens beyond the school gates. That’s where Parentkind comes in.”