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Drug use, smoking and drinking among young people in England in 2003: headline figures

Document type:

Statistics
Author:

National Centre for Social Research/National Foundation for Educational Research on behalf of the Department of Health
Published date:

31 March 2004
Primary audience:

Professionals
Publication format:

Electronic only
Gateway reference:

2004
Pages:

22
Copyright holder:

Crown copyright

This document contains headline results from a major national survey of secondary schoolchildren aged 11-15. The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) and the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) carried out the survey for the Department of Health. Over 10,000 pupils in 321 schools in England completed questionnaires in the 2003 autumn term. The main report on the survey will be published in autumn 2004. The survey is the most recent in a series that began in 1982. Some of the 2002 results have been revised.

The preliminary key findings for 2003 data are set out below.

Twenty-one percent of pupils had taken drugs in the last year in 2003, an increase from 20% in 2002 and 2001;
Twelve percent of pupils had taken drugs in the last month in 2003, the same proportion as in 2002 and 2001.
Nine percent of pupils aged 11-15 were regular smokers in 2003, a decrease from 10% in 2002;
The proportion of pupils who drank in the last week was 25% in 2003; there was no significant change from last year (24% in 2002).

Download analysis, tables and charts in Portable Document Format (PDF, 150K)

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