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Engagement in culture, arts, heritage and sport by young people in Northern Ireland
Findings from the Young Persons’ Behaviour and Attitudes Survey 2022

An Official Statistics publication
Published by: Professional Services Unit

Contact: Professional Services Unit
Email:
Tel: 028 9051 5424
Coverage: Northern Ireland
Frequency: Triennial
Publication Date: 19 October 2023

Main Stories

  • In 2022, almost all young people in Northern Ireland (98%) had participated in sport, a slight decrease in the proportion from 2019 (99%). Over nine in every ten young people (91%) had engaged with the arts in the previous year, similar to the proportion who had engaged in 2019 (90%).
  • The proportion of young people who used the public library service in 2022 (43%) had decreased when compared with 2019 (48%). Similarly, visits to museum or science centres by young people in 2022 (53%) had decreased compared to 2019 (69%).
  • Young people who are entitled to free school meals have lower engagement rates than those who are not, particularly for those who visited places of historic interest, attended arts events or visited a museum.

Introduction

Among other policy areas, the Department for Communities (DfC) is the lead department for arts and creativity, museums, libraries, public records, sports, heritage and volunteering. This bulletin provides headline analysis on some of these areas.

Engagement in culture, arts, heritage and sport includes:

  • Engagement in the arts (includes both arts participation and arts attendance)
  • Usage of the public library service
  • Visits to museums and science centres
  • Visits a place of historic interest
  • Participation in sport

More detailed analysis will be provided over the coming months, including breakdowns by demographic groups.

Young Persons’ Behaviour and Attitudes Survey

This report presents the findings from the 2022 Young Persons’ Behaviour and Attitudes Survey (YPBAS) in relation to engagement with culture, arts, heritage and sport in Northern Ireland which are used to inform the development, monitoring and evaluation of policy. It is worth noting that while all sectors were operating in 2022, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic may partly explain the generally lower engagement by young people when compared with engagement in previous years. More information relating to YPBAS, methodology, definitions and the interpretation of the figures can be found in the Definitions & technical notes section. Data tables are available in Excel and ODS format. The questions that were asked in YPBAS 2022 are available here.

Lead statistician: Iain Bryson

Culture, arts, heritage and sport

Engagement with culture, arts, heritage and sport is defined as engaging in the arts, using the public library service, visiting museums or science centres, visiting a place of historic interest or participating in sport. In 2022, 100% of young people had engaged with culture, arts, heritage and sport over the previous year. This proportion has remained the same since 2016.

Arts

In 2022, just over nine in every ten young people (91%) had engaged with the arts in the previous year. This is similar to the proportion in 2019 (90%) but lower than the proportions observed from 2007 to 2016.

Seven out of ten (71%) young people had participated in arts activities in the last 12 months. This is an increase on the figure for 2019 (66%) but lower than the proportions observed from 2007 to 2016.

Over four out of five young people (83%) had attended an arts event in the last 12 months. This has been the lowest observed over the trend period from 2007 onwards.

Free school meals

Young people who are entitled to free school meals were less likely to have engaged in the arts, participated in the arts or attended an arts event than those who are not entitled to free school meals.


Libraries

In 2022, over two-fifths (43%) of young people had used the public library service at least once in the last 12 months, continuing the downward trend from 2013 onwards.

Note: There is a break in the series for libraries as the libraries question on the YPBAS was revised in 2013 to include the wider range of services available in libraries including online services.

Free school meals

Similar proportions of young people who are entitled to free school meals used the public library service compared to those who are not entitled to free school meals.

Used the public library legend - Free school meals


Museums and science centres

In 2022, over half of young people (53%) had visited any museum or science centre in the last 12 months. This has been the lowest observed over the trend period from 2007.

Two-fifths (40%) of young people had visited a National Museum in the last 12 months in 2022. As with museums and science centres overall, this is the lowest figure recorded over the trend period from 2007.

Free school meals

Young people who are entitled to free school meals were less likely to have visited any museum or science centre or any National Museum than those who are not entitled to free school meals.


Heritage

In 2022, seven in every ten young people (70%) had visited a historic building, garden or monument; or city or town with historic character at least once in the last 12 months, a similar proportion had visited in 2019 and 2016 (71%).

Free school meals

Young people who are entitled to free school meals were less likely to have visited a historic building, garden or monument in the last 12 months (59%) than those who are not entitled to free school meals (73%).

Sport

In 2022, almost all young people in Northern Ireland (98%) had participated in sport in the last 12 months. This is similar to the comparable figure in 2007 but proportionately lower than the comparable results for 2010-2019.

Similarly, almost all young people had participated in sport in the last 7 days (94%) in 2022. This was a slight decrease on the trend seen from 2007 to 2019 for sport participation in the last 7 days.

Free school meals

Young people who are entitled to free school meals were slightly less likely to participate in sport in the last 12 months and the last 7 days than those who are not entitled to free school meals.

Volunteering

In 2022, over two-fifths of all young people (44%) had volunteered with clubs, campaigns or organisations.This is a decrease on the proportion volunteering in 2019 (49%).

Free school meals

Similar proportions of young people who are entitled to free school meals and those who are not entitled to free school meals volunteered in the last 12 months (43% and 44%, respectively).

Volunteered legend - Free school meals


Definitions & technical notes

Young Persons’ Behaviour and Attitudes Survey

The Central Survey Unit of the Northern Ireland Statistics and research Agency was commissioned by a consortium of government departments and public bodies to design, conduct and report on a study of the behaviour and attitudes of young people in Northern Ireland. The Young Persons’ Behaviour and Attitudes Survey (YPBAS) is a school-based survey carried out among 11-16 year olds and covers a wide range of topics relevant to the lives of young people today. The main aim of the YPBAS is to gain an insight into, and understanding of, their behaviour and lifestyle. It also aims to influence various government policies and practices relating to young people and to facilitate access to research findings and expertise.

Questionnaire

Two versions of the questionnaire were used to accommodate demand for topics on the 2022 survey. The content and structure of each questionnaire was agreed in consultation with clients. Schools were randomly assigned one version of the questionnaire. A copy of the DfC questions can be accessed at:

DfC Questions on the Young Persons’ Behaviour and Attitudes Survey 2022

Sample and response rate

The Department of Education (DE) provided CSU with a list of all post-primary schools in Northern Ireland (excluding independent schools and those which catered solely for pupils with special needs). All 192 post-primary schools, were contacted and invited to participate. Seventy four schools agreed to participate in the study, resulting in a response rate of 39%. One class in each of the five year groups (years 8-12) was then randomly selected to take part in the study. A total of 3,726 pupils were surveyed using Version A (response rate 84%) and 3,772 pupils using Version B of the questionnaire (response rate 85%). DfC’s questions on engagement of culture, arts and leisure were included in Version A.

Statistical significance in this report

The result presented in this report are based on data which has been weighted by year group, gender and religion in order to reflect the composition of the Northern Ireland post-primary population. Since a three stage sample design was used: schools, classes and pupils, the required assumption of random sampling was not met for significance testing. In 2013, standard errors were calculated for some of the variables in the survey using a formula for complex samples. However, when these were compared with standard errors calculated using the formula for random samples there was little difference (see Technical Report). Given those findings, and the methodology is consistent with that used in 2013, tests of statistical significance in this bulletin have been carried out using the formula for random samples.

Any statements in this report regarding differences between groups such as different years and whether young people are entitled to free school meals, are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level. This means that we can be 95% confident that the differences between groups are actual differences and have not just arisen by chance. Both the base numbers and the sizes of the percentages have an effect on statistical significance. Therefore on occasion, a difference between two groups may be statistically significant while the same difference in percentage points between two other groups may not be statistically significant. The reason for this is because the larger the base numbers or the closer the percentages are to 0 or 100, the smaller the standard errors. This leads to increased precision of the estimates which increases the likelihood that the difference between the proportions is actually significant and did not just arise by chance.

Other notes

The following should be noted when interpreting figures and tables:

  • Percentages less than 0.5% are denoted by ‘0’ and where there are no responses, they are denoted by ‘-’.
  • Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding.
  • Percentages may not add to 100% for questions where multiple responses are allowed.
  • Detailed tabulations are not provided where the number of respondents is too small to allow meaningful analysis.
  • The base number of responses to each question, which is shown in each table, is the unweighted count. The base may vary due to some respondents not answering certain questions.