• Study series
• Sweep 1
• Sweep 2
• Sweep 3
• Sweep 4
• Sweep 5
• Sweep 6
• Sweep 7
• Birth Cohort 2
• FAQ's
• Participants
• Our series details

Growing up in Scotland series

About this series

Growing up in Scotland (GUS) is the largest long running study of its kind, over 14,000 children and their families are or have been involved. This important study plays a crucial role in helping the Scottish Government understand how to give children the best start in life and whether national outcomes for children are being met.

You can read reports of the findings from each sweep of the study by following the links below:

Learn about the current sweep 7

Read the latest findings from Birth Cohort 2

Read the findings of sweep 6

Read the findings of sweep 5

 

Find out more about previous years of GUS.

 

Potential Policy impact

GUS provides crucial evidence for the long-term monitoring and evaluation of policies for children, with a specific focus on the early years.  While the principal aim of the study is to provide information to support policy-making, it is also intended to be a broader resource that can be drawn on by academics, voluntary sector organisations and other interested parties.

The study was pivotal in informing the development of the Early Years Framework and continues to influence the Scottish Government's understanding of children's early years and how inequalities in Scottish society might be addressed.

 

Methods

GUS interviews the parents of children in 3 different cohorts at key stages in the children's lives.

In 2005, 5,000 parents of children aged 10 months old ('Birth Cohort 1') and 3,000 parents of 2-year-olds ('Child Cohort') were interviewed. In 2011, a further 6,000 children aged 10 months old were recruited to form 'Birth Cohort 2'.  There have been seven 'sweeps' of data collection so far.

You can find out much more about how GUS is conducted here.

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