TIP-UK

We want to make sure that all young people in the UK receive high quality drugs education in schools. An earlier version of TIP was previously shown to be beneficial in Australian schools, so we want to undertake research to see if young people in the UK also experience similar benefits.

This project is part of a larger UK government funded initiative, and it is hoped that the successful implementation of this project will lead to the delivery of TIP-UK on a national scale.

To find more information about the research part of the project, please visit the Research section of the webpage.

As delivery of TIP-UK is part of a research study, if your child’s school has agreed to take part in TIP-UK, they will be randomly chosen to either be an ‘intervention’ school or a ‘control’ school. If your child’s school is chosen to receive TIP-UK it will be added into your child’s timetable as part of their normal RSHE/Health and Wellbeing education.

Some schools will also be randomly chosen to receive additional help from their local children and young people’s drug and alcohol service (this is known as TIP-UK+).

Please be assured that TIP-UK is age-appropriate, evidence-based, and fully aligns with the school RSHE/Health and Wellbeing curriculum, so your child will not be exposed to any information that they would not normally receive in these lessons.

If your child’s school is chosen to deliver TIP-UK, this is not related to any concerns about substance use in their school, or any concerns about your child. This is because all schools taking part are chosen to receive TIP-UK or not completely by chance.

If your child’s school is not chosen to deliver TIP-UK, your child will receive their usual drug and alcohol lesson provided by their school. This will usually be their RSHE/Health and Wellbeing lessons, although some schools may chose to do something else.

You can read more about the research we’re undertaking in the Research section of the website.

So that we can tell if TIP-UK is having a positive effect for pupils, they will be asked to complete two questionnaires, regardless of whether they receive the intervention or not.

They will complete one at the start of the research, and then another one 3 months later. Before this happens you will receive information from the school, which will let you know more about what is happening. It is important that you read this as it will explain in more detail what is happening and what questions they will be asked. We’ve also included a copy of our questionnaire in the Research section of the website.

Firstly, it’s important to know that alcohol and drug education is a compulsory part of the school curriculum. This means that all schools have to deliver it, and all pupils have to take the lessons – whether that’s TIP-UK or their usual classes.

Your child does not have to complete the questionnaires if they do not wish to, but they will still receive the education. They will have the opportunity to ask questions about the project before deciding. They can also choose to stop completing the questionnaire once they have started, and they are able to leave out questions that they do not want to answer if they wish. If they decide not to complete the questionnaire this won’t affect them at school.

This depends on their age. As mentioned, they will have to receive the alcohol and drug education, so you can’t withdraw them from this.

If your child is aged under 16, then you can tell the school that you don’t want them to complete the questionnaires. You will receive instructions on how to do this closer to the time.

If they are aged over 16, we think it is important that they decide themselves whether to take part. This is the approach taken in lots of research about young people’s health and wellbeing.

No. Your child will not be named and there will be no way that anyone can identify that they took part. Any reports and publications arising from this work will not refer to any individuals or schools.

We will use a temporary code/pseudonym so that your child cannot be directly identified from the data. The temporary code will consist of a randomly generated number, your child’s class, and their school. We store your child’s data this way so that we can match their baseline answers to their follow-up answers. After we have done this, we will completely anonymise their data (i.e. their data will not be able to be linked to your child) and the file linking your code to their identity will be destroyed.

Their answers will be confidential, and all data will be stored anonymously. We will keep all information about your child safe and secure. People who do not need to know who they are will not be able to see their questionnaire responses.

It should be noted that the data collected on your child via questionnaires cannot, and will not be shared with your child’s school or yourself.

The school will send details about TIP-UK and what it entails. Keep an eye out for emails, newsletters, and other information from your child’s school as it will contain important information and documents about the research project. This will include parent information sheets, child information sheets, and instructions on how to opt-out.

Our overall research findings will be shared with your child’s school, and it is up to them how they choose to share that information.

For questions about the research component, please contact the team.