This document summarizes the results of a survey of 288 schools in England on drug and alcohol education. It finds that provision remains inconsistent, with primary schools having less access to resources and support. While most schools provide some education, many teachers note a lack of curriculum time and financial constraints. The document also outlines specific gaps in resources identified by primary and secondary schools and areas where schools desire additional support.

1. Drug and alcohol education in
schools
2013 Teacher Mapping Exercise

2. Key Messages
 Drug and alcohol education provision remains
inconsistent.
 Primary schools have less access to support and
resources, but secondary schools also identify unmet
needs.
 Assessment and evaluation, continuity in learning
and quality assurance of resources and external
support remain weaker areas.
 While there are examples of excellent drug and
alcohol education teaching, many teachers
highlighted a lack of curriculum time, constraints on
finance for resources and training, and delivery by
non-specialist services.

3. About the research
 Teachers from 288 schools across England
responded to our questionnaire during June
2013. Follow-up telephone interviews were
carried out with 20 of these.
 156 respondents were from secondary schools
and 70 from primary schools, the remainder in
other settings, e.g. middle schools, FE
colleges, PRUs
 The majority were reached directly through the
PSHE Association’s mailing lists.

4. School drugs education and policy
 Most respondents (95%) said that their school
provided some drug and alcohol education
 86% said that their institution had a whole
school drugs policy (8% said ‘No’ and 7% ‘Don’t
know’)
“The school drug policy isn’t in the staff
handbook…but it is on the online system if people
want to look at it. In teaching they would only
refer to it if there was a safeguarding issue.”

5. Time available for drug and alcohol education
A lack of curriculum time was noted by
interviewees as an important constraint. The hours
allocated depended on the importance placed on
drug and alcohol education.
“The most important aspect which could be
improved would be curriculum time... it’s about
having enough time to build effective teaching and
experience.”

6. Pupils generally receive 1-2 hours of drug and
alcohol education a year or less
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Key
stage
one
Key
stage
two
(lower)
Key
stage
two
(upper)
Key
stage
three
Key
stage
four
Key
stage
five
None
< 1 hour per year
1-2 hours per year
> 2 hours per year

7. Teachers’ views on what makes an effective
teaching resource:
85% Engages pupils’ interest
82% Makes pupils think about their attitudes and values
59% Links with other health ed & wider issues in pupils’ lives
55% Sparks discussion
52% Meets the needs of a range of pupils
51% Gives opportunities to build and practise life skills
46% Creates continuity and builds on previous learning
37% Can be delivered by non-specialist teachers
33% Identifies clear learning outcomes
31% Has been evaluated and shown to be effective
23% Contains hard-hitting messages

8. Secondary schools’ access to resources
 Secondary schools felt there were some gaps in
their drug and alcohol education resources:
Feel that the
school is well
equipped to
teach all
areas needed
Mostly, but
there are a
few gaps
Sometimes, b
ut several
resources are
less than
ideal/need
updating
Little access
to effective
resources

9. Perceived gaps (secondary)
 In interviews and comments, a common
complaint was that resources were not up-to-
date, or not relevant for their pupils.
 This was reflected in two-thirds of secondary
teachers wanting resources on ‘legal highs’
 Generally, secondary teachers were keen for
resources which placed drug and alcohol use in
the context of other issues in their pupils’ lives...

10. Most popular topics for resources (secondary)
65% ‘Legal highs’
56% Links between d & a use and sex and relationships
55% Links between d & a use and mental illness
52% Coping with stressful situations without using d or a
47%
How many peers use (countering myth that
‘everyone does it’)
44% Links between d & a use and personal safety
43% Practising assertiveness skills
40% Thinking critically about the media and alcohol

11. Primary schools’ access to resources
 A fifth of primary schools (19%) said they had little
access to effective resources.
 Just 16% felt they were well equipped to teach all
areas
Yes, feel that
the school is
well equipped
to teach all
areas needed
Mostly, but
there are a few
gaps
Sometimes, but
several
resources are
less than
ideal/need…
Little access to
effective
resources

12. Perceived gaps (primary)
 From the most popular requests for new
resources, primary schools seem to perceive a
lack of basic, substance-specific teaching
resources.
“Lots of resources are for secondary schools. (We)
need specialist resources for Key Stage 2 which
inform without scaring.”

13. Most popular topics for resources (primary)
50% Alcohol
44% Illegal drugs (general)
43% Tobacco
43% Practising assertiveness skills
41% Safe use of medicines
34%
Thinking about values, attitudes and working
towards long-term goals
30% Thinking critically about the media and alcohol
27%
How many peers use (countering myth that
‘everyone does it’)
27% The law around drugs, alcohol and tobacco

14. What informs schools’ teaching?
 Anecdotal evidence is drawn on more than
structured needs assessment.
 Over half of schools don’t take into account
assessment of pupils’ learning.
 Primary schools draw on a much narrower base
of information: one in ten primary schools said
their teaching was informed by ‘none of the
above’

15. Drug and alcohol education is informed by...
0% 50% 100%
None of the above
Other (please specify)
Surveys of pupil behaviour
Class needs analysis
Pupil involvement in evaluating
Assessment of pupils’ learning
Incidents among pupils
Local data
National events or trends
Informal school knowledge on pupils
Secondary
Primary

16. Non-specialist teachers
 Mixed confidence amongst teachers in delivering
PSHE and drug and alcohol education remains an
issue within schools
“The real barrier that effective (drug and alcohol)
teaching faces within the school is that it is not
delivered through a PSHE team which leads to a
huge variety in delivery.”
“We have some staff who are excellent
practitioners, but others are very wary of having to
teach PSHE and 'awkward' lesson materials.”

17. Financial constraints
 some interview participants indicated that their
schools lacked the financial capacity necessary to
secure good external resources of support
“It is hard to find funding to bring in outside
speakers and it is sometimes also hard to afford
good resources.”

18. School support
 For all types of support , secondaries were more
likely to access them than primaries.
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Advice on school drug
policy
General advice on drug
and alcohol education
Classroom resources
Factual information about
drugs and alcohol
Staff Training
Secondary
Primary

19. School support
 FRANK, the police and the PSHE Association were
all used more by secondary schools than primary
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Other
Charity/ Company/…
Police
PSHE Association *
FRANK website
Local authority advisor
Secondary
Primary
* Because the majority of respondents were contacted through the PSHE Association
more schools would be expected to cite this as a source of support.

20. What schools wanted more support on
 Classroom resources (81%) were most popular.
 Next most popular were best practice guidance
(57%), policy updates (53%) and good practice
case studies (50%)

21. Secondary schools were more likely to want:
 Updates on research about effective drug and
alcohol prevention (50% vs 34%)
 Resources to help assess pupils’ needs (44% vs
33%)
 Advice on assessing pupils’ learning and
evaluating drug education provision (49% vs 30%)
 Targeted resources for working with pupils seen
as ‘at risk’ (41% vs 20%)
 Opportunities to network with other
practitioners and experts in the field (31% vs
20%)

22. Parents
 Overall, 40% said they would like advice on
working with parents.
 Some interviewees from primary noted that
parents were often uneasy with drug and alcohol
education being taught.
 Two respondents from secondary settings
reported that external support for engaging
parents with PSHE had now been withdrawn
because of cuts, leaving the teachers themselves
feeling less confident about working with
parents.

23. For more information
 The full report detailing the findings from the
survey can be downloaded from
http://mentor-adepis.org
 Contact us:
adepis@mentoruk.org
@mentor-adepis
020 7553 9920