Exploring the Perspectives of Young People with Special Educational Needs in Non-Mainstream Schools on Completing Mental Health and Wellbeing Surveys

There are over 175,000 young people with special educational needs (SEN) in non-mainstream schools in England. Schools and other organisations are increasingly trying to assess and monitor the mental health and wellbeing of young people through school-based surveys. However, there is a lack of research exploring the perspectives of young people with SEN on competing wellbeing surveys, which this study aimed to address. Nineteen young people with SEN including autism (n = 10), social, emotional and mental health needs (n = 6), speech, language and communication needs (n = 4), moderate learning difficulties (n = 3) and other difficulties (n = 2) were interviewed for this study. Participant schools were three special schools and one alternative provision in Greater London, Greater Manchester and Hampshire. Interviews were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Six key themes were developed from the data: discussion around anonymity and privacy concerns, issues surrounding ‘opening up’ and sharing feelings in wellbeing surveys, whether surveys make a difference, feelings of comfort or discomfort in completing surveys, logistical issues and teachers knowing about young people’s feelings beyond surveys. This study makes several recommendations for conducting school-based wellbeing surveys, based on the perspectives of young people with SEN.