Results & Impact
Each week hundreds of thousands of young people vote on our latest lesson. Here's what they say, and how their voices are changing the world.
05th - 12th September 2025
Making sure young people are well-informed and confident enough to build their own opinions on matters of business, politics and the wider world is central to VotesforSchools’ mission. For this VoteTopic, we asked our voters to discuss what they value about the businesses they buy from and what expectations they place on them. They also considered whether these expectations differ depending on the size of the business, and why that might be. We are very proud to have had SEC Newgate’s input on this topic’s content, which received over 60,000 votes from children aged 5-16+!
Primary 5-7 pupils were asked, “Should business-owners only think about money?”, while Primary 7-11 pupils discussed, “Should businesses only think about making money?”, and Secondary and College students considered, “Should making money be the main priority for big businesses?”
61,471 young people voted on this VoteTopic.
total votes
voters aged 5-11
voters aged 11-16+
You can see how our voting is impacting the world on our impact page:
Our Impact
27th June - 04th July 2025
Following research in the US that found 80% of young Americans believe in astrology, we were interested to see how data from the UK compared. Close to 33,000 students considered astrology’s merit and significance, with younger voters focusing on their birth month or star sign and Secondary and older students discussing horoscopes more generally. The results in this report show the extent to which young people in the UK think astrology should be relied upon as a method for decision-making.
see results
20th - 27th June 2025
This time last year, we asked voters about their experiences of hearing homophobic language in their everyday lives. Of the 31,875 who voted, the majority said Yes across all age groups, and by significant margins: 79% at Primary 7-11, 80% at Secondary 11-16, and 76% at College 16-18. For this year’s Pride and to mark School Diversity Week, we asked voters to consider whether LGBT+ representation benefits everyone in school communities, particularly in terms of their safety. These results have provided us with a vital insight into the work still required to ensure all young people feel a sense of belonging.
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13th - 20th June 2025
We celebrated Refugee Week (16th-22nd June 2025) for our 35th VoteTopic of the year, by exploring the stories of refugees and displaced people from around the world. The lessons highlighted parts of the world where people are currently seeking refuge from, and then Secondary, College & 16+ students discussed the way these situations have been discussed in the news, particularly in relation to the word “refugee”. Primary pupils heard about the lived experiences of refugees and considered what they had learned from each account.
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