Behaviour in schools in Wales

What we’ve heard and what it’s telling us

Schools play a fundamental and formative role for children and young people. Our National Survey  ‘Ambitions for Wales / Gobeithion i Gymru’ carried out in 2022 heard from over 10,000 children, young people, parents and carers and professionals who work with children about their experiences and views around key areas of relevance to children’s lives in Wales, including their thoughts about school and education.  

When we asked about health and happiness, we heard that: 

• Children aged 7-11 associate happiness with spending time with family and friends and going to school; 
• Children age 12-18 told us they enjoy school; and 
• Children with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) most frequently highlight going to school, followed by games and hobbies and spending time with friends as activities that make them feel happy. 

When we asked about worries and concerns, we heard that: 

• Children aged 7-11 most frequently worry about our planet and climate change, followed by tests and exams and getting a job when they grow up 
• The most frequent worries identified by young people aged 12-18 are exams and future employment.  
• Young people aged 12-18 also identified the negative impact of COVID-19 on their education, mental health and wellbeing, and physical health.  
• Parents and carers frequently expressed concerns about costs associated with school. They also identified the negative impacts of Covid19 on children’s education. 
• Professionals frequently expressed worries about costs associated with schools 

These views reflect the range of experiences which children have of going to school but also serve as a reminder of the challenges some children and their families face in relation to school, including the costs associated with school life and the pressures of exams and assessments.  

What We’ve Heard from Others About Behaviour in Schools in Wales

Estyn’s thematic report 

Estyn’s recently published thematic report on behaviour in secondary schools highlighting the challenges that secondary schools face in relation to poor behaviour, as well as highlighting some effective practice.  

 The report notes a number of reasons why pupils may display challenging behaviour in schools, including family instability, socio-economic pressures, mental health problems and additional learning needs. It notes some of the common behavioural issues seen, including persistent low-level disruption, acts of defiance and, to a lesser extent, physical confrontations. External factors, including the influence of social media and community-related issues including anti-social behaviour, are highlighted also. The evidence gathered from staff and pupils revealed concerns about low level disruption in lessons, poor behaviour in corridors, mobile phone misuse, and increased anxiety among pupils. The inspectoratehighlights the importance of consistent policy enforcement, supportive relationships, and effective external support in responding to challenging behaviour 

Some of the comments from pupils gathered by Estyn in undertaking this work include: 

“After the lockdowns – returning to school was difficult. I felt I had to find my place again with friends. My poor behaviour was in an attempt to ‘fit in’.” 

The report goes on to state:

“A few older pupils noted that readjusting to school life after the pandemic had been challenging, in particular establishing relationships with their peers and staff. They also noted different behaviours to those before the pandemic. Examples given were ‘kicking off’ or losing control of their emotions rather than admitting that they were struggling with the work, showing off in front of peers in order to be popular and being defiant towards adults due to being used to having their own way and their own routines for a long time.” 

School leaders and staff reported a decline in the behaviour of some of their pupils since the time of the pandemic and noted the national increase in fixed-term and permanent exclusions. The report notes  how, particularly since the pandemic, their headteacher reference group and staff during inspection and follow-up visits have reported a general decline in pupils’ behaviour.Estyn’s report recommends that schools strengthen their behaviour management systems by involving all stakeholders, including feeder schools, parents and carers, governors and local authorities, in developing clear, consistent policy and processes; that staff should receive specific training on managing disruptive behaviour, especially those of vulnerable learners; that local authority services should provide timely support, share relevant  information about pupils’ needs and experiences efficiently if pupils move within or beyond the local authority, and adopt a consistent approach to family engagement. The Welsh Government is urged to update national behaviour management guidelines and launch a national campaign on positive behaviour. They also recommend that initial teacher education and induction programmes should also include a comprehensive behaviour management programme. It also recommends that Welsh Government should carry out research across primary, secondary, and all-age schools to identify trends in behaviour and provide up-to-date guidance for schools on the most effective support to help improve behaviour. 

In their response to Estyn’s recommendations, Welsh Government accept the identified issues, and highlighted the May 2025 summit as the “initial springboard” to explore the approach to these issues.  

International perspective 

Internationally, recent work carried out by UNICEF on the impact of Covid-19 in high-income countries demonstrates  significant declines in children’s educational attainment, and mental and physical health, attributing this to increasing vulnerability to global events and calls for governments and key stakeholders to support development of skills, provide better specialist services, and promotion of well-being initiatives.  

Whilst the school day has broadly returned to the same pattern as prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, it is clear that the impact from the restrictions and challenges faced by young people and their families during that period continues to cast a significant shadow over their daily lives now.  We cannot afford to ignore or underestimate this if we are serious about truly tackling some of the challenges around  behaviour in schools. 

Academic perspective 

Another notable report on the topic has been produced by Bangor University in collaboration with Welsh Government – Behaviours that challenge and disrupt schools across Wales (May 2025) 

The main findings of this recent work include:  

• Teachers reporting a noticeable increase in the frequency and intensity of challenging behaviours, exacerbated by the pandemic; 
• In addition to behavioural concerns, many learners are exhibiting heightened anxiety and emotional distress, reflecting broader post-pandemic mental health challenges 
• A recurring theme was the need for a universal approach to foster a supportive and inclusive environment 
• While examples of good practice exist, the report notes the variability in implementation and perceptions and points to the need for updated guidance, enhanced professional learning, and closer collaboration between schools, parents, learner voice and policy makers. 

Teaching union survey work 

Important insight into the perspective from teachers can be gleaned from data published by teaching union, NASUWT Cymru, published in March 2025. This noted that violent incidents in schools have more than doubled in the last three years; that less than half of teachers interviewed would intervene when witnessing pupils fighting for fear of being embroiled in a child protection issue; and 55% of those interviewed said that verbal and physical abuse from pupils made them consider leaving teaching. Speaking about their survey, the national official for NASUWT Cymru said:

“We now face a moment of reckoning. The Welsh school system must be overhauled to reflect pupils’ increasingly complex needs. We need more specialist education facilities, and mainstream schools require significant resources and funding to put into place robust behaviour policies and increased lower-level support for affected pupils.” 

Welsh Government’s National Behaviour Summit 

Held at the Temple of Peace in Cardiff, this summit brought together a range of educators and stakeholders from across Wales. We heard from the Cabinet Secretary for Education: 

• The extent and range of societal problems seen in classrooms and the impact they are having on learners and educators 
• The need to look at the causes of poor behaviour and the need to support children and their families 
• The need for more joined-up working 
• The need for more consistency in data collection 
• A commitment to working with children and young people because they also suffer 

We heard from learners: 

• Poor behaviour being promoted on social media 
• How they see peers disrespectful 
• How some are not lucky to have support at home 
• Issues around peer-pressure 
• Issuers around class sizes – how this is unfair for teachers as well as learners 
• The impact of vaping  
• Boys’ attitudes towards female teachers, with some talking about how boys’ behaviour towards female teachers was worse than their attitude towards male teachers 
• Lack of respect for education 

We heard from Estyn, who provided highlights of their recent work (included elsewhere in this paper), and we heard from Professor Carl Hughes, from Bangor University, who spoke about: 

• Need for value-driven, whole-school approach 
• Bespoke intervention for some learners 
• Need to invest in effectiveness research in Wales 
• Need to ensure schools are nurturing environments, providing the things children need to thrive 
• Importance of positive relationships  
• Focus on community-focussed schools 
• How calling it ‘behaviour’ might be over-simplifying the problem 

Wider issues to consider

Estyn’s thematic report points to the wider data and evidence which exists which should inform our approach to and understanding of the challenges around behaviour of pupils in schools. i . A key point in their report is that ‘ Behaviours are often a form of communication and can be a symptom of other underlying issues a young person is facing’ It goes on to reference key data sets which show us the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) , the experience of pupils educated other than at school ( EOTAS),   and the increase in school exclusions , with disproportionate impacts on those eligible for free school meals, pupils with ALN, and those from minority ethnic backgrounds. All of these areas are significant in their right and need to be considered specifically in terms of how they impact on the behaviour of pupils more widely.  

Current Guidance

Estyn have noted that ‘there is no relevant, practical and current guidance to support schools, pupils or their families in dealing with behaviour and promoting positive behaviours.’  

Here is the current available guidance around behaviour, which is available to schools from Welsh Government: 

• Behaviour management in the classroom: guidance for primary schools (last updated in November 2012) 
• Behaviour management in the classroom: guidance for secondary schools (last updated in November 2012) 
• Exclusion from schools and pupil referral units (last updated April 2024) 
• School exclusion: guidance for pupils (November 2019) 
• School exclusions: guidance for meetings 
• Travel behaviour code: guidance (we understand work is ongoing to update this) 
• Travel behaviour code: guidance for parents 
• Rights, respect, equality: statutory guidance for governing bodies of maintained schools (November 2019) 

There is also a framework on embedding a whole-school approach to emotional and mental well-being (issued in March 2021 by the Welsh Government). This statutory guidance is intended to support schools and education settings in reviewing their own well-being landscape and in developing action plans. This features in the Welsh Government’s Child Poverty Strategy, where they note Government’s vision of creating inclusive and engaging environment where learners feel safe and are ready to learn. 

Our Calls

If we’re to truly deliver on our ambition of Wales being a country for all children, where their rights are upheld and their entitlements met, we see the need for the following actions to be taken.  

1. We need a national listening exercise to hear directly from young people on this topic. Much of the debate to-date has centred around the relatively small minority of learners whose behaviour is complex and unacceptable. We all agree that our education establishments should be a safe learning experience for all, but poor behaviour disrupts the learning for the vast majority. There has been no systemic capturing of evidence from all learners on the issue – those who display more complex behaviour, and those whose learning is affected. As a nation which prides itself in upholding children’s rights, we’re calling on there to be a nation-wide listening exercise with all learners, and for those views to form part of framing solutions, including the voice and experiences of children with additional learning needs, and any impact on their behaviour of their additional learning needs not being met. This would support  Unicef’s recommendations from its recently published Report Card 19: Child Wellbeing in an Unpredictable World.

2. We must see behaviour as a symptom of a problem, and not the problem itself, and must recognise complex behaviours as a multi-faceted issue with a range of root causes. As such, solutions must be actively considered as part of other ongoing national strategies including Welsh Government’s Child Poverty Strategy, the Mental Health Strategy, Youth Work Strategy and the ongoing evaluation of the ALN Act. Furthermore, a holistic approach is a must – this cannot be framed purely as an educational problem for schools to resolve alone, rather it is a whole society challenge that all our national structures should play a part in resolving. 

Accordingly:  

2a. Welsh Government should clarify their vision for the future of youth work structures in Wales, including their expectations for youth workers’ links with education establishments. It should also provide details of oversight of youth work in Wales once the Interim Youth Work Board completes its term this autumn.  

2b. Support for children and young people from health visitors should be strengthened. In our latest Annual Report, we noted that in 2022, 62,000 contacts from health visitors that should have taken place did not. Whilst most recent WG data highlights a slight increase in contacts, Wales still lags behind other UK nations in terms of completed contacts at the comparable points. Our recommendation on this remains unchanged: Welsh Government should review the effectiveness of the Healthy Child Wales Programme within the current Senedd Term. The review should set out clear expectations on frequency/ number of contacts; and what any alternative provision and support offer looks like; as well as digitalisation of health visitor records to improve efficiency 

2c. The Welsh Government’s evaluation of the implementation of the ALN Act should include the voice and experiences of children with additional learning needs in a meaningful way, including examining any impact on their behaviour if their additional learning needs are not addressed.

3. We need better data to understand the problem – a national system to collect data, for all agencies to have the ability to understand the full extent of the problem, is a must. Whilst acknowledging reservations by some that such data might become a reputational risk for schools, Estyn, in its report ‘Fostering Mutual Respect’, notes “…as there is currently no national system to collect data on incidences of poor behaviour in schools, understanding the full extent of the problem remains difficult.” 

Welsh Government should consider adopting a similar approach to that of the UK Government’s Department of Education’s National Behaviour Surveys and should look at interesting practice from countries who perform exceptionally in Unicef’s Report Card, measuring children’s mental wellbeing, physical health, and skills.  

4. We are calling on the whole-school approach to emotional wellbeing and mental health’s delivery board, hosted by Public Health Wales, to formally consider and respond to the themes from Welsh Government’s behaviour summit, to better understand how emotional wellbeing and mental health impacts on complex behaviour and respond to this 

We’ll continue to urge the Welsh Government to act on these issues, ensuring that the outcomes raised from the Summit and the proposals outlined in this paper are followed up as a matter of priority for children.