This is the fifth annual children's report since it was launched in April 2020. The survey provides information on how children and young people (aged 8-15) experience and think about the natural environment. It is run twice each year, once in term time and once during the summer
PaNS and CPaNS are currently the only accredited official statistic published by Natural England. The purpose of CPaNS is to collect information on how children and young people use, benefit from, and perceive the quality of the natural environment in England. The statistics allow Natural England and Defra to track change over time and understand differences across places and different population groups.
PaNS is delivered by a cross-CSD team, involving Evidence, Analysis and Science Directorates, as well as working closely with the Connecting People with Nature portfolio.
Please feel free to share the annual report, any of the summary findings below, or our 2025 infographic. If you have any questions about PaNS, or the findings of this year’s annual report, the PaNS team can best be reached on ([email protected]).
Key takeaways from the 2025 report:
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93% of children and young people agreed with the statement ‘Being in nature makes me happy’
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Children and young people reported visiting a variety of green and natural spaces in the last week with 68% saying they visited a garden and only 3% said they had no visits to a greenspace in the last week.
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During holiday time, more than half of children and young people reported that in the past week they had spent time every day or most days in their garden (66%) and other outside places (48%). During term time, most children and young people had spent time outside every day or most days at school (80%) in the past week and one third (35%) had lessons outside (other than physical education PE) every day or most days.
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Out of the children and young people surveyed 71% said they could easily walk to a garden with 67% saying they could easily walk to a park/playfield/playground. Only 2% said answered none of the above.
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Children and young people generally feel positive about the quality of their local outdoor spaces. 86% agree that they’re easy to get to by walking, 82% agree that ‘I feel welcome here’ and 80% say there are good places for playing.
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Playground and good weather are the most things to encourage them to go out into natural spaces.
