Publication, Part of Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People in England
Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People in England, 2023
National statistics, Accredited official statistics
Correction to school lessons and guidance (part 12)
Following the initial publication it was discovered that teacher responses from volunteer schools had not been excluded from the analysis (see Appendix A8 for information about volunteer schools). This was corrected and the affected tables and commentary have been re-issued including only teacher responses from sampled schools.
Only Part 12: School lessons and guidance was affected, specifically tables 12.4, 12.5, 12.6, 12.7, 12.8, 12.9 and 12.10, and the associated charts and commentary in the sections 'Frequency of lessons about tobacco, alcohol and drugs' and 'Lesson contributors and sources of information used to prepare lessons'. Though some of the quoted figures changed by 0-5 percentage points, there was no effect to the order of the most common contributors and sources of information to lessons.
13 February 2025 17:00 PM
Summary
This report contains results from the latest survey of secondary school pupils in England in years 7 to 11 (mostly aged 11 to 15), focusing on smoking, drinking and drug use. It covers a range of topics including prevalence, habits, attitudes, and wellbeing.
In 2023 the survey was administered online for the first time, instead of paper-based surveys as in previous years. This move online also meant that completion of the survey could be managed through teacher-led sessions, rather than being conducted by external interviewers. The 2023 survey also introduced additional questions relating to pupils wellbeing. These included how often the pupil felt lonely, felt left out and that they had no-one to talk to. Results of analysis covering these questions have been presented within parts of the report and associated data tables.
The report includes this summary report showing key findings, excel tables with more detailed outcomes, technical appendices and a data quality statement. An anonymised record level file of the underlying data on which users can carry out their own analysis will be made available via the UK Data Service in early 2025 (see link below).
Highlights
Access the code used to create this report
The code used to create the outputs for this report is available on our NHS Digital GitHub webpage.
The code for the 2023 publication will be added to GitHub in early 2025.
Key Facts
Based on the 2023 survey:
The prevalence of smoking cigarettes is similar to the 2021 survey
11% of pupils had ever smoked (12% in 2021), 3% were current smokers and 1% were regular smokers (both unchanged from 2021)
Current e-cigarette use (vaping) remains at 9%, the same as in 2021
1 in 4 pupils (25%) in the 2023 survey reported having ever tried vaping
Of pupils who have ever tried vaping, 89% have never regularly smoked tobacco cigarettes
A further 6% reported starting vaping before smoking tobacco cigarettes, only 5% of pupils reported smoking tobacco cigarettes before using vapes.
37% of pupils said they had ever had an alcoholic drink
Prevalence increases with age, from 15% of 11 year olds to 62% of 15 year olds
5% of all pupils said they usually drank alcohol at least once per week, similar to 2021 (6%)
The proportion increases with age, from 1% of 11 and 12 year olds to 11% of 15 year olds
Fall in prevalence of lifetime illicit drug use
13% of pupils reported they had ever taken drugs (18% in 2021), 9% had taken drugs in the last year, and 5% in the last month
10% of pupils reported feeling lonely often or always
18% of pupils felt that they often had no-one to talk to, and 15% said that they often felt left out
Resources
Last edited: 13 February 2025 4:59 pm