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Growing up in Scotland series

Did you know?

In the child cohort 84% of children had watched TV every day in the last week; 3% had not watched any television.

from : Growing up in Scotland

About this series

Growing up in Scotland (GUS) is the largest long running study of its kind, with 10% of children and their families in Scotland taking part.

This important study plays a crucial role in helping the Scottish Government understand how to give children the best start in life and whether national objectives for children are being met.

Read the most recent reports from 2010/11

You can read new findings from Year 6 of the study by downloading the reports at the bottom of this page or by visiting the Scottish Government's news release on the findings here.

You can download slides from the launch of our Year 6 findings here.

Year 6 results cover:

• Children's weight and activity
• Parental involvement in school activities
• Children's readiness for primary school
• Grandparents' involvement in children's lives

Find out more about previous years of GUS

Visit GUS's dedicated website to download reports from previous years of the study.

Praise for GUS from the Scottish Government

'GUS is an evidence base that I value greatly, as it follows the same group of children over their life course, which allows us to explore the impact that early years experiences have on child development outcomes, and in the longer term, on later life outcomes.'
Adam Ingram MSP, Minister for Children and Early Years

How we're working

The study is run by ScotCen Social Research, in collaboration with the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships at Edinburgh University and, from year 5, the MRC Social and Public Health Science Unit at the University of Glasgow.

Potential Policy impact

Funded by the Scottish Government, GUS has a direct impact on policy formation and evaluation of Scotland's performance against national objectives. It was pivotal in informing the development of the Early Years Framework and continues to influence the Scottish Government's understanding of children's early years and how inequalities in Scottish society might be addressed.

Methods

Parents are interviewed annually until their child reaches five, and then at key stages after that.

Year 1: We interviewed 5,000 parents with new born babies and 3,000 parents with children aged two.

Year 2: Incorporates results obtained from the Partners' survey.

Years 2 & 4: Children's height and weight measurements taken.

Years 3 & 5: The younger group of children were given cognitive assessments.

Year 6: Topics include grandparents, obesity and school.

You can find out much more about how GUS is conducted here.

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