A new Department for Education study highlights how girls as young as five may hide emotional struggles, raising concerns about early detection and support for those with special educational needs and disadvantaged backgrounds.
At five, many girls can appear to be coping. That is the warning raised by a new Department for Education study on children as they move through primary school, which the Autistic Girls Network says may be especially likely to miss girls whose difficulties are hidden by careful behaviour in class and collapse only later at home. The first findings from the Five to Twelve project offer a snapshot of children aged five and six in English state primary schools, but they also show the limits of what adults notice at that age. According to the Department for Education, the cohort study is designed to follow children through primary school and beyond, giving researchers a chance to see how early differences develop over time.
The study, run by the National Centre for Social Research for the DfE, interviewed 8,632 families during the 2023-24 school year and sets out a baseline covering children’s health, development, home lives and the expectations placed on them by school. One of the headline measures is the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, or SDQ, a widely used screening tool completed by adults that looks at emotional symptoms, conduct, attention, peer relations and prosocial behaviour. The report found that 17% of boys aged five to six had scores indicating socio-emotional difficulties, compared with 10% of girls. But the Autistic Girls Network argues that such measures can favour what adults can see, rather than what a child is masking.
The pattern was even clearer among children with special educational needs. The report said 44% of children with SEN had scores suggesting socio-emotional difficulties, compared with 10% of those without SEN. It also found that children with SEN slept less, were judged to have less developed motor skills, and scored lower in verbal skills, reasoning and working memory. On top of that, they were already less likely to be predicted to reach expected standards in reading and maths by the end of primary school. For the campaigners who work with autistic girls, that is a reminder that some children are effectively being marked out for future struggle before they are out of infants’ school.
The report also shows how sharply disadvantage compounds these risks. Children eligible for free school meals had three times the rate of socio-emotional difficulties seen in better-off classmates, at 30% compared with 10%, and were more likely to have a longstanding health condition. Yet, as the Autistic Girls Network points out, the baseline does not ask children whether they feel safe at school, whether they like it or whether they feel they belong. It also omits attendance and absence. Those are not minor gaps. For children who are quietly unravelling, they may be the first signs that matter.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
