Life at 17: New GUS data offers insight into late adolescence

Dr Sarah Minty is part of the team running Growing Up in Scotland (GUS) at ScotCen.

January 2025 marks the release of the eleventh sweep of data from the Growing Up in Scotland (GUS) study. From this month, researchers can apply to access the data to conduct their own analysis. This blog explores what GUS is, outlines some of the key topic areas covered by sweep 11 and explains how researchers can access this latest data release.  

What is GUS?

GUS is an important longitudinal research study, which has tracked the lives of thousands of young people and their families from birth through childhood and into early adulthood. Launched in 2005, to date, GUS has collected information on three nationally representative cohorts of children. The study is commissioned by the Scottish Government and is carried out by the Scottish Centre for Social Research (ScotCen).

About sweep 11

Data from the eleventh sweep of GUS data collection with Birth Cohort 1 (those born in 2004/05 who were 17 or 18 at the time) is now available for analysis. At this sweep, the young people in the study were preparing to leave or had recently left school (some were in college or employment). The questionnaire explored age and stage appropriate topics such as young people’s experiences of school, their post-school plans and aspirations for further and higher education, apprenticeships and the world of work. Other topics included the impact of COVID-19; their political attitudes and civil participation; online activity; free time activities; diet; sleep; views of their local area; mental and physical health; sexual activity; substance use and relationships with peers and parents.  

The questionnaires also covered a range of topics from previous sweeps to enable changes to be tracked over time as well as many new topics. As in previous sweeps of GUS, young people undertook cognitive assessments and their height and weight measurements were also taken (where interviews were conducted in home which, due to COVID restrictions, was only for a portion of the cohort). In addition, a follow-up element objectively tracked young people’s physical activity. Data was also collected from the young person’s main carer.

GUS survey data is already linked to cohort member’s health and school records. These administrative data linkages were extended at sweep 11 to include educational attainment data from the Scottish Qualifications Authority and post-school destinations data from Skills Development Scotland. Access to these datasets is currently being negotiated.

Taken together, these different elements of data collected at sweep 11 provide an exciting opportunity for researchers to track changes over time in relation to key policy areas and topics, and consider the role of a wide range of factors in relation to young people’s key outcomes.  

Sweep 11 methods

Taking place between 2021 and 2023, sweep 11 used a combination of approaches, as a result of COVID-19 restrictions:  

• Young people were invited to complete a web questionnaire and participate in a telephone or face-to-face interview
• Parents/carers were asked to complete a web questionnaire, either by telephone or through self-completion on the interviewer’s laptop
• In addition, young people were invited to take part in a physical activity exercise which involved wearing an activity monitor and GPS device. 

A total of 2649 cohort members or their parents/carers participated at sweep 11 with data provided by 2484 young people and 1979 parents/carers.  

Accessing the data

GUS sweep 11 data (and that from earlier sweeps) can be accessed from the UK Data Service. All sweep 11 documentation, including user guides and copies of the questionnaires, are available from the data documentation page of the GUS website.  

If you have questions about using the data, or if you have a research question but don’t have the skills to analyse the data, please contact gus@scotcen.org.uk.