Browse recently published NSPCC research, briefings and findings that share the latest insights about babies, children, young people and their families. About NSPCC research About NSPCC research Research directory (0 results found) If you can't find what you are looking for search the NSPCC's library catalogue Children's services spending reports Published June 2026 Children's social care services provide vital support and care to hundreds of thousands of children and families each year. But these services are increasingly under strain. Our Children's services spending report series explores the issues. Multi-agency safeguarding in Family Hubs Published May 2026 A policy report examining safeguarding practices and multi-agency working within place-based family support settings in England. Core info series Published March 2026 Early years policy in Scotland Published February 2026 A policy report examining how children’s early years have been prioritised at a national level in Scotland since devolution. Evidence brief from the scale up evaluation of EMPOWER Published January 2026 This evidence brief shares findings from a national pilot of EMPOWER, a toolkit for young people to quality assure their school’s SRE resources. A collective concern: parent and carer views on the online blackmail of children and young people Published November 2025 Online blackmail is a growing problem for children and young people and many turn to a parent or carer for help. We surveyed parents and carers to understand their views on this topic. Tipping point: tackling the challenges in safeguarding children educated at home Published November 2025 A policy report exploring the challenges of safeguarding children educated at home. How a place-based approach facilitates a flexible community response to online safety Published November 2025 Type: Service evaluation Evaluation of three online safety projects run by Together for Childhood practitioners in primary schools in Plymouth and Stoke-on-Trent. The EMPOWER project: giving young people a voice in their sex and relationships education Published November 2025 Learnings from EMPOWER, a framework developed by Together for Childhood in Plymouth so young people could evaluate the content and delivery of SRE in their secondary school. Tools to combat online harms: protecting children in private messaging spaces Published November 2025 Research analysing the technological solutions that can help to prevent, detect and disrupt grooming and online abuse. Small acts, big impact: how communities can support families through everyday challenges Published October 2025 Findings from an exploratory four-nation survey of attitudes towards informal child safeguarding in the community. Building emotional intelligence and resilience in primary school children Published July 2025 Type: Service evaluation An evaluation of the Emotional Resilience programme, part of the Together for Childhood initiative in Govan. Case studies from the developmental evaluation of Together for Childhood Published June 2025 How effective have the four Together for Childhood sites been at preventing child abuse and neglect? Testing the Graded Care Profile 2 Antenatal (GCP2A) tool Published May 2025 Findings on the acceptability, validity and reliability of a tool designed to help practitioners assess the needs of expectant parents to identify areas of strength and areas where they may benefit from support. Targeting girls online Published May 2025 A policy report exploring how online services enable the abuse and harassment of girls. Building Brains Together for Childhood Published April 2025 Evaluating how to make the science of infant brain development accessible and highlight the impact of happy and healthy brain development. Developmental evaluation of Together for Childhood Published March 2025 Type: Service evaluation How effective has Together for Childhood been so far as an approach for preventing child abuse? Viewing Generative AI and children’s safety in the round Published January 2025 Research report outlining the risks Generative Artificial Intelligence poses to children and recommendations for policymakers and technology companies. What professionals know, think and do to prevent child abuse – and how we can support them Published December 2024 Research report from Together for Childhood exploring what professionals know, think and do to prevent child abuse and how we can support them. Opening doors: access to early childhood services for families impacted by poverty in the UK Published December 2024 Research to find out how support can better meet the needs of families living on a low income and improve outcomes for babies and young children. Understanding and responding to sibling sexual harm and abuse Published November 2024 An analysis of the research around sibling sexual harm and abuse and what support children and their families need. Too little, too late: identifying and tackling neglect Published August 2024 A report exploring the barriers and challenges multi-agency safeguarding professionals face when identifying and tackling neglect. Understanding early pregnancy support: Together for Childhood research report Published June 2024 Findings from a series of interviews with new and expectant parents living in the Govan community of Glasgow about their experiences of early pregnancy support in Scotland. Putting children’s voices at the heart of online safety regulation Published May 2024 A report exploring how children’s voices can inform decision-making about online safety. Young people’s knowledge, attitudes and behaviours Published April 2024 A research report exploring what young people at Together for Childhood sites know, think, and would do about child abuse. Together for Childhood: embedding children’s services practitioners in local primary schools Published February 2024 Type: Service evaluation Read our evaluation of an initiative with primary schools in the Together for Childhood site in Grimsby aiming to prevent abuse and neglect in families facing adversity. Home again: reunification practice in England Published January 2024 Findings from a survey of 75 local authorities about reunification practice in England with recommendations to improve support. Safe Home evaluation briefing Published January 2024 Type: Service evaluation Key learning from an evaluation of the NSPCC's Safe Home programme, supporting parents and carers of children who have displayed harmful sexual behaviour. How participation can improve outcomes in learning about healthy relationships and preventing peer-to-peer sexual harm Published December 2023 Evaluation of Young Voices, a project working with young people in Plymouth to design campaigns promoting healthy relationships. Online risks to children: evidence review Published November 2023 This review looks at the online risks and harms experienced by children in the UK between 2017 and 2023. Sharing the learning from our early years programmes at the NSPCC Published October 2023 This briefing brings together learning from past evaluations of our early years programmes. Together for Childhood: building stronger communities and preventing abuse Published October 2023 Research to help understand the impact of Together for Childhood, a long-term approach bringing together families and local partners to make communities safer for children. Listening to children and young people’s experiences of disclosing child sexual abuse: insights for the proposed mandatory reporting duty in England and Wales. Published September 2023 Research into the experiences of young people about their views on disclosing sexual abuse. Child safeguarding and immersive technologies Published September 2023 Research into the risks to children of virtual or augmented reality. Keeping The Promise to infants in Scotland Published April 2023 This report presents the fundamental principles and key priority areas outlined in the government ’ s first Keeping the P romise i mplementation p lan in Scotland. Child Sexual Abuse Recovery Project briefing Published March 2023 Type: Service evaluation Key findings from our pilot of a system-wide approach to improving the quality of support for children and families affected by child sexual abuse. How young people are learning about relationships, sex and sexuality Published March 2023 We commissioned an exploratory research project to find out how young people's views and recommendations for relationships, sex and sexuality education. Building a community of safeguarders Published February 2023 What encourages the general public to act on concerns about a child? We reviewed the literature to find out. Children and young people’s views on learning about sex, sexuality and relationships: literature review Published November 2022 Read our literature review for an insight into children’s different experiences of learning about relationships, sex and sexuality and how sex education can better match their lived experience. Parent interventions to prevent child maltreatment: evidence summary Published October 2022 This summary reviews the evidence on effective interventions to prevent or reduce child maltreatment. Look, Say, Sing, Play evaluation Published August 2022 Find out what we’ve learnt about delivering Look, Say, Sing, Play which aims to reduce the risk of abuse and neglect by educating parents about the importance of interacting with their babies. Together for Childhood design principles evaluation Published May 2022 Type: Service evaluation Find out what we’ve learnt about how the Together for Childhood design principles are worki ng in practice and the differences Together for Childhood is making in local communities. Hearing stories of change Together for Childhood evaluation Published May 2022 Type: Service evaluation Learn about the Transformative evaluation method used to evaluate Together for Childhood, a place-based project that aims to make communities safer for children. Why children seek help in non-face-to-face settings review

Published January 2022 A commissioned review by Listen Up that explores what factors can influence children and young people's decision to seek help in non-face-to-face settings and how identity plays a part in help-seeking behaviour. How the GCP2 assessment tool for neglect supports families and practitioners to achieve change Published January 2022 Type: Service evaluation Understanding how the Graded Care Profile 2 assessment tool for neglect supports families and practitioners to achieve change. ‘Talk to Me’ tool: review of pilot simulations Published December 2021 Evaluation of our immersive tool to help adults with talking to children about difficult topics, like abuse. A community online: young people helping young people on the Childline message boards Published October 2021 Find out how young people benefit from using the Childline message boards to support their help-seeking journey. Evaluating Speak out Stay safe programme Published October 2021 Type: Service evaluation An independent evaluation was commissioned to examine whether our SOSS programme increases children’s understanding of abuse and what its impact is in primary schools. Reviewing NSPCC evaluation research direct services Published September 2021 Type: Service evaluation What we have learned from our approach to programme design, delivery and evaluation over the last decade. Keeping Safe cluster randomised trial evaluation Published September 2021 Type: Service evaluation Read our research on how the Keeping Safe primary school programme helped to increase knowledge and understanding of abuse concepts in children, parents, carers and teachers. Keeping Safe process evaluation: views experiences children parents and schools Published September 2021 Type: Service evaluation A process evaluation of our primary school programme about recognising abusive behaviours, exploring the views of children, parents and school staff taking part in the programme. Teaching children and young people in special schools to recognise abusive behaviours Published June 2021 Type: Service evaluation Read how the NSPCC’s Keeping Safe programme has been implemented in schools for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in Northern Ireland. Sustainability of delivering NSPCC services Published May 2021 Type: Service evaluation This report looks at the sustainability and effectiveness of organisations implementing and delivering NSPCC services for local areas. Pregnancy in Mind virtual service evaluation Published May 2021 Type: Service evaluation We conducted an evaluation to see how our virtual preventative mental health programme, Pregnancy in Mind, supported parents during COVID-19 and how effective it is when compared to the face-to-face programme. Sharing the Science evaluation Published March 2021 Type: Service evaluation Read our evaluation a programme to help parents and professionals gain a better understanding of the impact of early adversity of child brain development. Delivering local direct services children families COVID Published March 2021 The NSPCC’s local services for children and families were adapted in 2020 to comply with COVID-19 restrictions. Find out more about what our research highlighted and the learning you can take from it. Volunteering with vulnerable families Published January 2021 At the end of 2020, we commissioned a review of relevant literature around volunteers supporting vulnerable families. Discover more about the research we found and what the key findings were. Learning from adapting the Baby Steps programme in response to COVID-19 Published December 2020 Type: Service evaluation Find out how we've been ensuring that parents and families continue to receive the perinatal support they need during the pandemic and what we've learnt from the process. Still here for children: experiences of NSPCC staff during coronavirus Published December 2020 Our report covers the experiences of NSPCC staff who have been supporting children and families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Implementation evaluation of InCtrl Published November 2020 Type: Service evaluation Read our evaluation report of InCtrl, a pilot NSPCC service for children and young people that aims to prevent technology assisted child sexual abuse (TA-CSA). Impact evaluation scale-up Domestic Abuse, Recovering Together Published September 2020 Type: Service evaluation We looked into the impact of scale-up sites delivering DART in comparison to families who previously attended the service at the NSPCC. The service is aimed at mothers and their children who've been affected by domestic abuse. Pregnancy in Mind process evaluation Published September 2020 Type: Service evaluation We conducted an evaluation of our Pregnancy in Mind's face-to-face service which is a preventative mental health service for parents. Social isolation risk child abuse during and after coronavirus pandemic Published June 2020 Read our report summarising the risks to children’s safety due to the conditions created by the coronavirus crisis, and why these risks might intensify during the pandemic. Implementation evaluation of Together for Childhood Published November 2019 Type: Service evaluation Learning from an evaluation of Together for Childhood, a preventative approach to child abuse and neglect that involves community engagement and partnership working. How do children helplines measure their effectiveness? Published September 2019 A systematic review of effectiveness of Childline and the outcomes for children who contact the service, including evidence about children’s helplines across the world. Childline annual review Published July 2019 Learn about what children and young people talked to Childline about in 2018/19. Also includes previous reports and thematic reports. Supporting military families Published April 2019 Type: Service evaluation An evaluation of three NSPCC early intervention services aiming to improve the wellbeing of families in the military community. No one noticed, no one heard Published April 2019 Read our 2013 research into the childhood experiences of abuse of young men and women and how they disclosed and sought help. Helping children recover from child sexual exploitation Published March 2019 Type: Service evaluation We evaluated our Protect and Respect service which supports young people who have been or are at risk of being sexually exploited. Find out what the key findings were. Falling short Young witness policy practice Published February 2019 Letting the Future In for children with learning disabilities Published December 2018 Type: Service evaluation Evaluation of Letting the Future In for children with learning disabilities (LTFI-LD), a service to help children and young people with learning difficulties move on from sexual abuse. Understanding childrens teachers views Speak out Stay safe Published October 2018 Type: Service evaluation Evaluation of the NSPCC’s Speak out Stay safe programme, which teaches school children to recognise and speak out about abuse and neglect. Community approach to preventing child sexual abuse in the home Published September 2018 What works to empower people within a specific community to prevent child sexual abuse in the home. Implementation evaluation deliver Graded Care Profile 2 Published September 2018 Type: Service evaluation Review of how we supported organisations to use Graded Care Profile 2 (GCP2), a evidence-based tool to measure the quality of care being given to a child and identify whether a child is at risk of neglect. Implementation evaluation deliver Reunification Practice Framework Published September 2018 Type: Service evaluation What we learned from supporting local authorities to use an evidence-based resource for assessing whether or not to return a child or young person home from care. The profile of the children and young people accessing an NSPCC service for harmful sexual behaviour Published September 2018 Understanding younger children, children with a learning difficulty and girls who use our harmful sexual behaviour service. Children young people technology-assisted harmful sexual behaviour Published September 2018 Research into the backgrounds and behaviours of boys and young men who engage in harmful sexual behaviours using online and mobile channels. Impact online offline child sexual abuse Published September 2018 Research into what young people and professionals say about the effects of offline and technology-assisted child sexual abuse, and how best to respond to it. Turn the page final evaluation Published September 2018 What works in a service for teenage boys who display harmful sexual behaviour. Evaluation of the Letting the Future In service Published September 2018 We commissioned a randomised controlled trial (RCT) in collaboration with the University of Bristol and Durham Univeristy to evaluate the impact and implementation of Letting the Future In. Published September 2018 ​What children are telling Childline about the services they receive following sexual abuse. Review children young people harmful sexual behaviour online Published September 2018 What the evidence base can tell us about the online harmful sexual behaviours displayed by children and young people. Child abuse and neglect in the UK today Published September 2018 The economic cost of child maltreatment in the United Kingdom Published September 2017 Preliminary study estimating the lifetime costs of child abuse and neglect NSPCC Library catalogue Can’t find what you’re looking for? Access the largest collection of child protection resources in the UK, including all NSPCC research and the National case review repository. NSPCC Library catalogue Can’t find what you’re looking for? Access the largest collection of child protection resources in the UK, including all NSPCC research and the National case review repository.