Connie Muttock, Head of Policy at the Centre for Young Lives, responds to the Prime Minister’s announcement on skills and education

The Centre for Young Lives think tank and education charity SHINE are today (Friday 10th July) publishing a new report, A New Settlement for Education: Why We Need a New Theory of Place-Based Improvement. As Andy Burnham prepares to enter Downing Street in the coming weeks, it makes a direct appeal to the incoming Prime Minister to translate his long-standing commitment to devolution and inclusion into a new era of education reform.

A new report from the Centre for Young Lives thinktank published today (Thursday June 25th) warns that the fast-growing online trend known as “looksmaxxing” is driving some boys and young men towards dangerous body image pressures, extreme behaviours, and misogynistic worldviews.

The Centre for Young Lives has announced the development of a reimagined Vulnerability Index, a major new project that will harness open data to understand the scale and nature of risks facing children and young people to drive earlier interventions.

Luke, a member of the Fair Education Alliance Youth Steering Group, attended our recent Ambitious About Inclusion event in Newcastle and shares his thoughts about the session.

Ahead of the Schools White Paper from the Department for Education, the Centre for Young lives has published a new framework for SEND reform.

The Centre for Young Lives think tank publishes Growing Up Well: A new place-based model to radically improve children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing, setting out a new tested blueprint for local systems to deliver earlier, more effective support for children and young people.

The Future Minds campaign – bringing together Centre for Mental Health, Centre for Young Lives, the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition, and YoungMinds – is today (Wednesday 28 January) publishing “Future Minds: a roadmap to transform children and young people’s mental health by 2035”, a new plan to help fix the children’s mental health crisis”.

The Centre for Young Lives is publishing a new research paper, Mapping inclusion in education, which gives all local authorities an indicative ‘inclusion score’, and which suggests London boroughs may be outperforming the rest of the country on inclusion.

Today’s publication of the Government’s Youth Strategy marks the start of a positive 10-year vision for young people, backed by over £500 million. By young people, for young people – this is a strategy that we all stand to benefit from.

The Centre for Young Lives is beginning a new research project to explore ‘looksmaxxing’ - a growing internet subculture focused on maximising perceived physical attractiveness - and the impact of social media algorithms on boys' health and self-identity. We want to understand how these beauty trends are impacting how some boys and young men see themselves and the wider world.

A new policy briefing by the Future Minds Campaign and Fund the Hubs calls for an open access wellbeing offer in Young Futures Hubs to support children and young people with mental health problems.

This report sets out a framework for the Government to ensure that its Best Start Family Hubs – the successor to Sure Start – are effectively delivered and meet the needs of those children and families who need them most.

During the three-hour session, Anne’s evidence was able to draw heavily on some of the recent work of the Centre for Young Lives, in particular the research we published in July in our 2025 State of the Nation report

The Centre for Young Lives is working with the Premier League Charitable Fund as its learning and evaluation partner to explore how football and football club charities can help to break down the barriers to opportunity facing some children and young people.

Baroness Anne Longfield, the former Children’s Commissioner for England, has today urged the Government to deliver a formal Prime Ministerial apology in Parliament to children and young people in England, in recognition of the avoidable mistakes affecting children made by the then Government’s in its response to the Covid pandemic.

The Centre for Young Lives think tank publishes a new report setting out a framework of how the Government’s Young Futures Hubs can keep vulnerable teenagers safe and support them to succeed.

'Education Equality for the North of England: Challenges and Opportunities' will be presented today (Monday 8th September) in Leeds to national child health, education and care leaders, the new analysis shows that 48.5% of children who receive free school meals will have started school without meeting ‘school already’ criteria. Meanwhile, 49.1% of children not school ready are later identified as having Special Educational Needs (SEN).

The Centre for Young Lives think tank launches its annual report on childhood vulnerability ‘State of the Nation: Identifying Vulnerable Children and Young People and Supporting Them to Thrive’. 

Last week we met Tanisha, a Year 12 student, who joined us for a few days to find out more about our work. We were keen to ask Tanisha about some of her experiences during the Covid pandemic, five years on, and she generously shared her recollections of that time with us in this blog.

Over 1,200 leaders - ranging from GPs and health workers and headteachers to experts in the built environment, creative industries, physical activity and sports, and the early years, charity leaders, academics, and local government leaders - have joined the Raising the Nation Play Commission’s call for a new National Play Strategy for England.

New analysis published by the Centre for Young Lives estimates that for every £1 invested in youth provision- including youth centres, youth workers, and positive activities for young people to do - there would be a return of at least £2.40 in financial, economic, and social benefits.

The Centre for Young Lives think tank publishes a new report, “Growing Up Well: Ambitious for the future of Children and Young People’s Mental Health Support”, which provides a deep dive into spending on and strategies for children and young people’s mental health services in local areas across England. 

A new report published by the Centre for Young Lives think tank, draws on new Freedom of Information data from councils in England to reveal the current provision of children’s centres and Family Hubs, both crucial tools in the Government’s mission to widen opportunity and boost school readiness.

Report urges ‘Britain’s kids have got talent’ drive in schools to boost opportunity and stop the pipeline of pop stars, actors and creatives becoming the preserve of the well-off

The Raising the Nation Play Commission, a year-long independent inquiry into why play is critical to the wellbeing of children in England, publishes its Interim Report, ‘State of Play’. The Commission was launched in June 2024 by its chair, entrepreneur and campaigner Paul Lindley OBE - founder of Ella’s Kitchen, the UK’s biggest baby food business. It is working in partnership with former Children’s Commissioner Baroness Anne Longfield’s Centre for Young Lives think tank.

The Centre for Young Lives- commissioned by The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) and NCS Trust (National Citizen Service) - has today (Tuesday February 18th) published a new report, ‘Beyond the classroom: the role of enrichment in tackling the school absence crisis’. 

New research warns that the mental health crisis facing children and young people will prevent the Government from its mission of boosting economic growth and productivity as well as impacting the lives of thousands of young people. The research estimates that the long-term impact of mental health problems in childhood now costs the UK over £1 trillion in lifetime lost earnings. 

This week we celebrate the first anniversary of the Centre for Young Lives. We’ve come a long way, very quickly, and we’ve never been more convinced that founding the Centre was the right decision. 

We are delighted to be working with Mission 44 on the Ambitious about inclusion roadshows.

The Centre for Young Lives welcomes the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill as a positive and important step towards improving the safeguarding of vulnerable children and boosting their life chances. It addresses issues we have been very concerned about over many years, including vulnerable children falling through the gaps and into danger.

The Centre for Young Lives wants to see the health and wellbeing of children and young people at the heart of the NHS 10-year plan. Taking care of the health of children is crucial to making sure we have a fit and healthy adult population – yet children’s health needs after often an add on or afterthought rather than a priority. We are calling for a once-in-a-generation rebalance to prioritise children’s health.

The Centre for Young Lives welcomes the Government’s Curriculum and Assessment Review. This is our submission. It reflects our view that significant change is needed to improve the system so that it provides an excellent education to all children.

Anne Longfield, Executive Chair of the Centre for Young Lives think tank, is today (Tuesday December 3rd) publishing a new report, ‘Too Skint for School’, examining the link between poverty and school attendance. 

A new report published by Child of the North and Anne Longfield’s Centre for Young Lives think tank puts forward new recommendations to tackle the school absence crisis.

NCS Trust (National Citizen Service), The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) and the Centre for Young Lives (CfYL) have partnered to explore the evidence linking participation in enrichment activities to improved academic attendance, amidst a rise in persistent absenteeism among young people.

A new report published by Child of the North and Anne Longfield’s Centre for Young Lives think tank, makes a series of proposals to tackle the high number of children starting school not ‘school ready’, and the crisis in early years and childcare provision - particularly in disadvantaged areas.

Ignore ‘Nanny State’ critics and expand sugar taxes, ban sale of energy drinks to under 16s, and roll out national supervised toothbrushing programme in schools to tackle the crisis of tooth decay affecting millions of children – Child of the North/Centre for Young Lives report

The five charities: Centre for Young Lives, the Child Poverty Action Group, Save the Children UK, Just for Kids Law and the Children’s Rights Alliance for England (known together as the Children’s Rights Organisations or CROs) have been selected as Core Participants for their expertise in children’s rights, inequalities and discrimination. 

The Centre for Young Lives welcomes the Government’s focus on putting vulnerable children and young people at the heart of its opportunity mission.

Centre for Young Lives is today (Tuesday) setting out a ten-point plan for the next Government to boost children’s life chances. Its priorities match some of the biggest challenges facing children in the UK, problems that have had little air time during the General Election campaign.

Paul Lindley OBE, founder of organic baby food brand Ella’s Kitchen, along with the Centre for Young Lives , today announces the launch of the Raising the Nation Play Commission, a landmark inquiry into children’s play in the UK. Throughout its 12-month programme, the Commission will seek testimony from leading experts in children’s play and wellbeing, as well as from parents, children and young people across the country, to produce a report making recommendations for post-election government policy.

A new report by Child of the North and Anne Longfield’s Centre for Young Lives think tank, “Building the foundations of a new ‘Sure Start’: An evidence-based plan for connecting and coordinating support and services in and around education settings”, sets out the case for a new updated model of Sure Start that puts schools and nurseries at its heart. It proposes a national network of ‘hubs’ in educational settings that can provide services such as:

Child of the North/Centre for Young Lives report sets out an evidence-based plan to improve the mental health and wellbeing of children through schools to support the 1 in 5 children with a probable mental health condition.

Jonny is the CEO of The Education Alliance Multi-Academy Trust (TEAL).

‍Child of the North/Centre for Young Lives report sets out an evidence-based plan to use the country’s education infrastructure to reduce the impact of child poverty on millions of children.Report calls for the poverty battle to be taken ‘inside the school gates’, including a plan for Free School Meals to go to individual schools and nurseries in areas with the worst levels of child poverty.The report highlights recent analysis of the data of over 60,000 children illustrating a link between poverty and the current school attendance crisis.

A report published by the Child of the North initiative - led by the N8 Research Partnership of Northern universities and others - and former Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield’s new Centre for Young Lives think tank, reveals a crisis in children’s autism assessment, warning that thousands of autistic children and young people are waiting months - or even years - for health and education support.

Recap of our recent 'in conversation' evening with Bridget Phillipson MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Education. Topics covered include early years, attainment, support for disadvantaged children, and more.