An extensive programme of development work was carried out between November 2016 and July 2017 in advance of academic year 2017-18 (Year 1) of the survey to inform the feasibility and successful delivery of a school-based survey of 5-16-year-olds in England.
Specifically, it was undertaken to ensure that the proposed questions could be easily understood and accurately completed by this age group and that the survey design was appropriate.
Individual technical reports produced for each of the development phases provide extensive information. This chapter summarises the key aspects of the development work; further detail on each of the phases can be found in the academic year 2017-18 (Year 1) technical report.
Further development work has been carried out since the initial stage. These are described in the technical reports for each year.
Changes that were made to the questionnaire for academic year 2024-25 (Year 8) are summarised in the 'data editing and management' section. These required cognitive testing so development work beyond questionnaire design was carried out.