Young people omnibus

Survey of secondary school pupils In England and Wales

Every year Ipsos MORI runs the only school-based omnibus study devoted exclusively to exploring the views, experiences and aspirations of a large and representative sample of young people aged 11-16. The survey is extremely cost-effective because it is run on an omnibus basis, whereby administrative costs are shared, but clients can ask customised confidential questions.

• Who do we interview?
• Who can take part in the survey?
• Timing & costs.
• What our previous clients say about us.

What do young people think about …?

• health issues
• modern technology
• family / relationship issues
• life
• school
• becoming an adult
• how the country is run
• careers
• crime and policing
• leisure
• media

Who do we interview?

We interview around 2,500 young people, aged 11-16 years, in approximately 125 schools. The sample is designed to be representative of all secondary and middle schools in the state sector that deliver education to curriculum years 7-11 in England and Wales. However, there is room for flexibility. For example, previous Young People Omnibus surveys were conducted concurrently due to client demand. Thus we interviewed around 5,000 pupils in approximately 250 schools. This gave clients a large overall sample from which to conduct robust sub-group analyses, eg by gender, region and ethnicity.

Who can take part in the survey?

• non-profit making organisations including voluntary sector and government offices
• non-profit making divisions of commercial organisations
• commercial organisations with educational sponsorship programmes / schemes
• commercial organisations concerned with education in some other respect (eg educational publishers)
• teaching and other unions
• the media, for editorial and programme content only
• museums and galleries

Timing and costs

Interviewing for the next Young People Omnibus will take place before half-term in the Spring Term of 2009, with results available by April 2009. The deadline for participation is 30 October 2008.

There is no entrance fee to take part in the survey - you simply pay a cost for each question you ask.  The price of a single question starts at £975 + VAT, depending on its complexity and scope. These costs cover all questionnaire design, fieldwork, summary reporting and the provision of computer tables.  Other outputs, including a presentation of the results, SPSS data, or additional analysis can be provided at an additional cost.

Comments from recent Young People Omnibus Clients

"They have a good knowledge of our organisation and its aims which informs their comments on our draft questions and makes the job a lot easier from our end.  They are very flexible."

"Gaining the views of a reliable sample of schoolchildren can be fraught with problems, but adding specific questions to the Young Person's Omnibus proved a useful, and hassle-free, way to get the information we needed for our report.  The Ipsos MORI team were great at keeping in regular touch with us."

"A good understanding of the world of education - much more so than any other 'non-educational' research organisations."

To see a copy of this year's Young People Omnibus flyer, please click here.

 For more information, please contact Alexandra Ziff at ali.ziff@ipsos.com or on 020 7347 3957.  In her absence, please contact Fiona Johnson at fiona.johnson@ipsos.com or on 020 7347 3000.