Age 7 Survey

The Age 7 survey took place during 1965 and aimed to measure your educational, social and physical development. Over 15,000 of you took part.  Nearly 300 new participants, who had been born overseas, joined the study after moving to Great Britain.

What we asked

Health visitors visited your homes and conducted interviews with your parents (mothers in most cases). Information was collected about your family, who you lived with, the homes you lived in, the type of work your parents were doing, your health, your parents’ health, your schooling and your parent’s aspirations for your future.

You competed a number of tests including a reading test and the ‘draw a man’ test in which you were asked to ‘make a picture of a man’ and scored on the number of body parts that you included.

Information was also collected from the school that you attended about type of school, class sizes, approaches to discipline, your attendance, behaviour and ability.

The Age 7 survey also included a medical examination where your height, weight,  vision, hearing, speech, and motor co-ordination were measured and any other medical issues noted.

When you were 7…

• In the three months before we spoke to your mother, 1 in 10 of you had been reluctant to go to school, 1 in 4 of you had a temper tantrum, 1 in 6 had nightmares and 3 in 10 had been fussy eaters.
• Half of your mothers and a third of your fathers read to you each week.
• 3 in 10 of your mothers had done some full-time or part-time work before you started going to school.
• 1 in 7 of you did not have an indoor toilet.