Results of the Children and Young People Survey 2025

We ran our Children and Young People Survey in 2025.

The aims of the survey were to:

monitor the progress and the impact we're having on local children, young people and their families
compare findings to our first survey, which took place in 2021.

The survey ran between May 2025 and December 2025. This was supplemented by focus groups in January 2026.

We commissioned TONIC to run our survey.

Who took part

There were 5,000 responses to the survey. This included:

4,372 completed responses to the survey
4,315 responses from children
30 parents or carers who completed the survey for children under the age of 6 years old
27 parents or carers who completed the survey for children with additional needs
94 children and young people who participated in focus groups.

We've compared your responses to those from our 2021 survey. This shows improvements in the 5 years since Child-Friendly Medway was launched.

81% of children and young people reported either strongly liking or liking their area. This is a 13% increase from 68% in 2021.
77% of children and young people said they felt very safe or safe where they live. This is an 18% increase from 59% in 2021.
85% of children and young people reported feeling very happy or happy with their lives. This is a 21% increase from 64% in 2021.
71% of young people felt that Child-Friendly Medway is making Medway a better place for children, young people and their families. 26% were unsure and 4% did not agree.

You told us that you liked the following areas of Medway:

You told us you do not like the following areas of Medway:

We asked about your hopes and dreams for the future.

Lots of the responses to the survey show an aspiration for careers in:

There were also imaginative career goals, such as the tooth fairy and dinosaur trainer.

Over 80% of responses agreed that all 7 sections of our action plan are still important.

The 7 sections include: