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1970 British Cohort Study: Ten-Year Special Needs Survey, 1980

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Title details

SN: 7064
Title: 1970 British Cohort Study: Ten-Year Special Needs Survey, 1980
Alternative title: BCS70
Persistent identifier: 10.5255/UKDA-SN-7064-1
Series: 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70)
Depositor(s): University of London. Institute of Education
Principal investigator(s): University of London. Institute of Education. Centre for Longitudinal Studies
Sponsor(s): Economic and Social Research Council

Subject Categories

Literacy - Education
Primary, pre-primary and secondary - Education
1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70) - Major studies
Specific diseases and medical conditions - Health
Childbearing, family planning and abortion - Health
Child development and child rearing - Social stratification and groupings

Abstract

Background
The 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70) began in 1970 when data were collected about the births and families of babies born in the United Kingdom in one particular week in 1970. The first wave, called the British Births Survey, was carried out by the National Birthday Trust Fund in association with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Its aims were to examine the social and biological characteristics of the mother in relation to neonatal morbidity, and to compare the results with those of the National Child Development Study (NCDS), which commenced in 1958 (held separately at the UK Data Archive under GN 33004). Participants from Northern Ireland, who had been included in the birth survey, were dropped from the study in all subsequent sweeps, which only included respondents from Great Britain.

Since BCS70 began, there have been seven full data collection exercises in order to monitor the cohort members' health, education, social and economic circumstances. These took place when respondents were aged 5, in 1975 (held under SN 2699), aged 10, in 1980 (SN 3723), aged 16, in 1986 (SN 3535), aged 26, in 1996 (SN 3833), aged 30, 1999-2000 (SN 5558), and aged 34, in 2004-2005 (SN 5585). The first two sweeps (at 5 and 10 years) were carried out by the Department of Child Health at Bristol University. During these times, the survey was known as the Child Health and Education Study (CHES). The 16-year survey was carried out by the International Centre for Child Studies and named Youthscan. The Social Statistics Research Unit (SSRU) became involved with the BCS70 study at this time, and eventually changed its name to the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS), based at the Institute of Education, University of London. With each successive attempt, the scope of BCS70 has broadened from a strictly medical focus at birth, to encompass physical and educational development at the age of 5, physical, educational and social development at the ages of 10 and 16, and physical, educational, social and economic development at 26 years and beyond. Further information about the BCS70 and may be found on the Centre for Longitudinal Studies website. As well as BCS70, the CLS now also conducts the NCDS series.

Response dataset:
A separate dataset covering response to BCS70 over all seven waves is available under SN 5641, 1970 British Cohort Study Response Dataset, 1970-2005. Users are advised to order this study alongside the other waves of BCS70.

Subsample, supplementary and related studies
A range of sub-sample and supplementary surveys have also been conducted, such as the Ten-year Follow-up Special Needs Survey (held under SN 7064) and a supplementary survey of head teachers (held under SN 5225) at the time of the 16-year follow-up in 1986. A related study, Coding of Text Data from BCS70 at 10 and 16 Years: Health Care Utilisation of School Aged Children, 1970-1986, is also held under SN 4126. The aim of this project was to code text variables from BCS70 files, selected from the ten- and 16-year follow-ups to provide information about health care utilisation by the target age group.
Ten-Year Special Needs Survey, 1980
The BCS70 Ten-Year Follow-up survey (held at the UK Data Archive under SN 3723) also contained a Special Needs Pack. This assessment of the educational attainment of children with disabilities posed many problems because of the heterogeneity of the disabilities. Presentation of the tests had to be modified in the case of partially sighted and blind children, for children with severe hearing loss, and those children identified as having severe motor/locomotor disabilities, many of whom had accompanying severe hand-eye co-ordination problems. As expected, children with severe or moderately severe learning disabilities (formerly ESN(S) and most ESN(M) children) were unable to attempt most of the tests carried out on the main cohort and needed a set of tests more tailored to their range of capabilities. The assessment of the educational attainment of such children was given much thought and a variety of special instruments were developed or adapted, which became the elements of the Special Educational Pack.

One particular concern on the educational side of the BCS70 Ten-Year Follow-up was to gather information on educational attainment on children who were unlikely to be able to complete the educational attainment tests administered at ten years. Teachers were given the option of electing to ask for a Special Educational Pack with easier tests for any child for whom they considered the standard testing too hard. The other criteria for selecting children for the receipt of Special Educational Packs included children who had completed the ordinary pack but had scored in the bottom 5 per cent on the Edinburgh Reading Test and/or the Friendly Maths Test. All children receiving Special Educational Treatment (SET) were also sent a Special Educational Pack. Each Special Educational Pack contained the standard educational test material which teachers were asked to try with the child in order to know where the child fitted within the lower end of the distributions of the standard pack test scores.

Survey instrumentation for the 1980 follow-up was distributed through education and health authorities. The Special Needs Tests were included in the materials distributed through Local Education Authorities and, where parental consent was obtained, administered to cohort members in school with the assistance of teachers.

For further details of the main study, see SN 3723.
Main Topics:
The data cover: respondents' literacy, numeracy and educational attainment; medical and educational help received; behaviour and emotional states; parental role and family environment; psychological and educational tests.

Coverage, universe, methodology

Dates of fieldwork: The main BCS70 Ten-year Follow-up fieldwork took place between January 1980 and April 1981. The Special Education Pack testing took place between February and July, 1981.
Country: Great Britain
Spatial units: No spatial unit
Observation units: Individuals
Kind of data: Numeric
Universe: National
The main survey instrument was sent out to every school in Great Britain at which anyone born in April 1970 was likely to be attending. See documentation for details of the Special Educational Needs arrangements.
Time dimensions: Longitudinal/panel/cohort
Sampling procedures: The main survey covered all members of the BCS70 cohort who could be traced were included in the sample, plus their parents and teachers. See documentation for details of how respondents were subsequently included in the Special Educational Needs sample.
Number of units: 456 cases.
Method of data collection: Psychological measurements; Educational measurements
See SN 3723 for details of the main survey data collection methods.
Weighting: No weighting used.

Keywords

ABILITY EVALUATIONAGEBEHAVIOURAL DISORDERS
COUNSELLINGDISABILITIESEDUCATIONAL ATTENDANCE
EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVESEDUCATIONAL TESTSEMOTIONAL DISTURBANCES
EMOTIONAL STATESGREAT BRITAINHANDWRITING SKILLS
INTELLECTUAL IMPAIRMENTKEY SKILLSLITERACY
LITERACY AND NUMERACY EDUCATIONMENTAL DISORDERSMOTOR PROCESSES
NUMERACYPARENT PARTICIPATIONPARENTAL ROLE
PHYSICAL DISABILITIESPSYCHOLOGICAL TESTSREADING SKILLS
SCHOOL DISCIPLINESCHOOLCHILDRENSCHOOLS
SENSORY IMPAIRMENTSSOCIAL CLASSSOCIAL SKILLS
SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERSSPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATIONSPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS
SPEECH IMPAIRMENTSSPEECH THERAPYSPELLING SKILLS
TEACHING METHODSVOCABULARY SKILLSWRITING SKILLS

Administrative and access information

Date of release:
First edition: 04 September 2012
Copyright: Copyright Centre for Longitudinal Studies
Access conditions: The depositor has specified that registration is required and standard conditions of use apply. The depositor may be informed about usage.
Additional special conditions of use also apply. See terms and conditions of access for further information.
Please note: A fully documented database, which will contain all BCS70 data, is in preparation at CLS and will also be made available via the UKDA. Until then, it is possible to obtain data not already held at the UKDA from the CLS directly via:
BCS70 User Support Group, Centre for Longitudinal Studies, Institute of Education, University of London, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H OAL.
Tel: 0207 612 6864
Fax: 0207 612 6880
Email: cohort@cls.ioe.ac.uk
Further information may also be found on the Centre for Longitudinal Studies website.
Availability: UK Data Service
Contact: Get in touch

Documentation

TitleFile NameSize (KB)
Annotated Special Test Booklet and Special Teacher Questionnaire annotated_special_test_booklet_and_special_teacher_questionnaire.pdf 3402
BCS70 10-year Special Needs Tests Guide to the Dataset bcs70_10-year_special_needs_tests_guide_to_the_dataset.pdf 570
CLS Confidentiality and Data Security Review cls_confidentiality_and_data_security_review.pdf 49
Educational Questionnaire educational_questionnaire.pdf 726
Instruction Booklet for Special Educational Tests instruction_booklet_for_special_educational_tests.pdf 589
Study information and citation UKDA_Study_7064_Information.htm 28
READ File read7064.htm 10

Related studies:

1970 British Cohort Study: Birth and 22-Month Subsample, 1970-1972 (SN 2666)
1970 British Cohort Study: 42-Month Subsample, 1973 (SN 2690)
1970 British Cohort Study: Five-Year Follow-Up, 1975 (SN 2699)
1970 British Cohort Study: Sixteen-Year Follow-Up, 1986 (SN 3535)
1970 British Cohort Study: Ten-Year Follow-Up, 1980 (SN 3723)
1970 British Cohort Study: Twenty-Six-Year Follow-Up, 1996 (SN 3833)
1970 British Cohort Study: Twenty-One-Year Sample Survey, 1992 (SN 4715)
1970 British Cohort Study: Partnership Histories, 1986-2000 (SN 5218)
1970 British Cohort Study: Sixteen-Year Head Teacher Questionnaire, 1986 (SN 5225)
1970 British Cohort Study: Twenty-Nine-Year Follow-Up, 1999-2000 (SN 5558)
1970 British Cohort Study: Thirty-Four-Year Follow-Up, 2004-2005 (SN 5585)
1970 British Cohort Study: Employment Histories, 1996-2004 (SN 5613)
1970 British Cohort Study Response Dataset, 1970-2005 (SN 5641)
1970 British Cohort Study: Sixteen Year Follow-up, Arithmetic Test, 1986 (SN 6095)
1970 British Cohort Study: Thirty-Eight-Year Follow-Up, 2008-2009 (SN 6557)
1970 British Cohort Study: Partnership Histories, 1986-2008 (SN 6941)
1970 British Cohort Study: Activity Histories, 1986-2008 (SN 6943)
British Cohort Studies Teaching Dataset for Higher Education, 1958-2000 (SN 5805)
Occupational Coding for the National Child Development Study (1969, 1991-2008) and the 1970 British Cohort Study (1980, 2000-2008) (SN 7023)

Related case studies:

Do smarter children avoid drug use later in life?

Publications

Please note, the inclusion of publications in this tab is temporary. Publications and outputs will be searchable using the publications filter in the near future.

By principal investigator(s):
Publications based on BCS70 may be found on the Centre for Longitudinal Studies website.

Chamberlain, G., et al. (1975) British births 1970, London: Heinemann.

Crawley, H.F. (1993) 'The energy, nutrient and food intakes of teenagers 16-17 years in Britain: 1. energy, macronutrients and non-starch polysaccharides', British Journal of Nutrition, 70, pp. 15-26.

Crawley, H.F. (1993) 'The role of breakfast cereals in the diets of 16-17 year-old teenagers in Britain', Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, 6, pp. 39-50.

Furlong, A. (1993) Schooling for jobs: changes in the career preparation of British secondary school children, Aldershot: Avebury.

Lewis, S., et al. (1995) 'Prospective study of risk factors for early and persistent wheezing in childhood', European Respiratory Journal, 8, pp.349-356.

Goodman, A. and Butler N. R. (1996) The 1970 British Cohort Study: the Sixteen-year Follow-up - a guide to the BCS70 16-year data available at the Economic and Social Research Council Data Archive, London: Social Statistics Research Unit, City University.

Butler, N., Despotidou, S., and Shepherd, P. (1997) 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70) Ten-year Follow-up (formerly known as the Child Health and Education Study, CHES): a guide to the BCS 10-year data available at the Economic and Social Research Council Data Archive, London: Social Statistics Research Unit, City University.

Bynner, J., Ferri, E. and Shepherd, P. (1997) Twenty-something in the 1990s: getting on, getting by, getting nowhere, Aldershot: Ashgate.

Kallis, C. (2004) CLS Cohort Studies Data Note 4: BCS70 partnership histories, Centre for Multilevel Modelling, Bedford Group for Lifecourse and Statistical Studies, Institute of Education, University of London.

Steele, F., et al. (2005) 'The relationship between childbearing and transitions from marriage and cohabitation in Britain', Demography, 42.

Steele, F., et al. (2005) 'Changes in the relationship between the outcomes of cohabiting partnerships and fertility among young British women: evidence from the 1958 and 1970 Birth Cohort Studies', paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America, Philadelphia, 2005.

Resulting from secondary analysis:
Stewart, A. and Orme, J. (1989) 'Teenage smoking and health education' , Health Visitor, March, pp.91-94.

Roker, D. (1992) 'The private sector of education: a review of past research and recommendations for future work', Educational Studies, 3, pp.227-298.

Green, F., Hoskins, M. and Montgomery, S. (1994) 'The effects of training, further education and YTS on the earnings of young employees', Discussion Paper in Economics, University of Leicester.

Banks, M.H. and Roker, D. (1996) 'Work attitudes of private and state schools: evidence from the Youthscan study', British Journal of Education and Work.

Al-saadoon, M. A. (1999) Antisocial behaviour and residential care teenagers, dissertation for MSc Community Paediatrics, University of Nottingham.

Cheung, Yin Bun (1999) 'The blood pressure of heavier and lighter twins: support for the fetal origin hypothesis?', British Medical Journal, 27, October.

Cheung, Yin Bun (2001) 'Adjustment for selection bias in cohort studies: an application of a probit model with selectivity to life course epidemiology', Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 54, pp.1238-1243.

Cheung, Yin Bun (2002) 'Zero-inflated models for regression analysis of count data: a study of growth and development', Statistics in Medicine, 21, pp.1461-1469.

Cheung, Yin Bun (2002) 'Early origins and adult correlates of psychosomatic distress', Social Science and Medicine, 55, pp.937-948.

Kiernan, K. (2003) Cohabitation and divorce across nations and generations, CASEpaper 65, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, London School of Economics, March.

Pevalin, D.J. (2003) Outcomes in childhood and adulthood by mother's age at birth: evidence from the 1970 British Cohort Study, Working Paper of the Institute for Social and Economic Research, Paper 2003-31, Colchester: University of Essex.

Ermisch, J. F. and Pevalin, D.J. (2003) Who has a child as a teenager?, Working Paper of the Institute for Social and Economic Research, Paper 2003-30, Colchester: University of Essex.

Ermisch, J. F. and Pevalin, D.J. (2003) 'Does a 'teen-birth' have longer-term impacts on the mother? Evidence from the 1970 British Cohort Study, Working Paper of the Institute for Social and Economic Research, Paper 2003-28, Colchester: University of Essex.

Gale, C.R. and Martyn, C.N. (2004) 'Birth weight and later risk of depression in a national birth', British Journal of Psychiatry, 184, p.28-33.

Ermisch, J.F. and Pevalin, D.J. (2004) 'Early childbearing and housing choices', Journal of Housing Economics, 13(3), pp.170-194.

Hobcraft, J. and Sigle-Rushton, W. (2005) An exploration of childhood antecedents of female adult malaise in two British birth cohorts: combining Bayesian model averaging and recursive partitioning, CASEpaper 95, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, London School of Economics, March.

Batty, G.D., Deary, I.J. and Schoon, I. et al. (2007) 'Childhood mental ability in relation to cause-specific accidents: the 1970 British Cohort Study', QJM, 100(7), pp.405-414.

Batty, G.D., Deary, I.J. and Schoon, I. et al. (2007) 'Childhood mental ability in relation to food intake and physical activity in adulthood: the 1970 British Cohort Study', Pediatrics, 119(1), pp.38-45.

Gale, C.R., Deary, I.J. and Schoon, I. et al. 'IQ in childhood and vegetarianism in adulthood: the 1970 British Cohort Study', British Medical Journal, Feb 3, 334(7587), p.245.

Batty, G.D. et al. (2007) 'Mental ability across childhood in relation to risk factors for premature mortality in adult life: the 1970 British Cohort Study', Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 61, pp.997-1003.

Deary, I.J., Batty, G.D. and Gale, C.R. (2008) 'Bright children become enlightened adults', Psychological Sciences, 19, pp.1-6.

Gale, C.R., Batty, G.D. and Deary, I.J. (2008) 'Locus of control at age 10 years and health outcomes and behaviors at age 30 years: the 1970 British Cohort Study', Psychosomatic Medicine, 70, pp.397-403.

Leuze, K. (2007) 'What makes for a good start? Occupation-specific higher education and graduate career mobility', International Journal of Sociology, 37(2), pp.29-53.

Leuze, K. and Allmendinger, J. (2008) 'Ungleiche Karrierepfade? – Die Bedeutung institutioneller Differenzierung für stratifizierte Arbeitsmarkterträge von Hochschulabsolventen', in B. Kehm (ed.)Hochschule im Wandel, Frankfurt: Die Universität als Forschungsgegenstand.


The Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) has produced a 'Data Dictionary' covering summary information on UK-based survey series (including BCS70) that include any data on alcohol use. Further information and links to the dictionary documents may be found on the IAS Data Dictionary - Table of Contents web page.

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