Ofcom Children's Online Safety Tracker (COST) Wave 1

“Children's Online Safety Tracker (COST)”

“UK children aged 8 to 17.”

“Published 10 December 2025”

Wave 1 findings were published in Online Nation 2025. The linked report comparing Waves 1 and 2 was published in May 2026.

“Core plus Module 2 – 14th March to 9th April 2025.”

The displayed dates are for Module 2. Module 1 ended a day earlier, on 8 April.

“The sample achieved for module 1 was 1,746 children aged 8-17 and 1396 children aged 11-17s for module 2.”

The displayed sample is the 1,396 Module 2 respondents aged 11–17. The full survey included 3,142 children aged 8–17. Suicide and self-harm items were restricted to older secondary-school children who consented.

“Therefore, data collected from Wave 1 for module 2 comprises secondary age children only (11+).”

Module 2 covers ages 11–17. Underage Use is limited to the 11–12-year-olds within this group; suicide and self-harm questions start at Year 8 in England and Wales, S2 in Scotland and Year 9 in Northern Ireland.

“Members of STRAT7's proprietary online panel (SurveyBods) and panel partner (CINT) were invited via email to take part.”

Non-probability online panel (STRAT7 SurveyBods + CINT panel partner).

“The total sample achieved at wave 1 was 3,142 children aged 8-17.”

Online Nation 2025 reports Wave 1 findings. The later children’s online experiences report compares Waves 1 and 2; this index entry covers Wave 1 only.

“Have you seen or heard any of the below online in the last 4 weeks.…” “Bullying online (e.g. Cyber bullying).”

M2.2 Block 1 measures exposure to bullying content seen online. M2.7 (PDF pp.34–35) is a follow-up asked when bullying or hate is the focus harm: 'Was this about you or someone else?' with options including 'It was about me / It was about someone like me / It was about someone else'. M2.7 enables separating victimization from witness-only exposure.

“Have you seen or heard any of the below online in the last 4 weeks.…” “Showing someone with an eating disorder, or encouraging or providing instructions for one”

Eating-disorder-content exposure item (M2.2 Block 7).

“Have you seen or heard any of the below online in the last 4 weeks.…” “Self harm / hurting yourself on purpose: people showing this, giving instructions for this, or encouraging others to do this”

M2.2 Block 8 is restricted to Year 8 and above in England and Wales, S2 and above in Scotland, and Year 9 and above in Northern Ireland (approximately age 12+), with consent. It includes both suicide and self-harm content.

“Have you seen or heard any of the below online in the last 4 weeks.…” “Someone being seriously violent towards another person”

Violent-content exposure item (M2.2 Block 2a).

“Now thinking about how you feel when you are online, like when you are gaming, using social media, or messaging your friends and family.”“Looking at this scale, how happy are you…” “With the amount of time that you spend online?”Response options: Never happy / Sometimes happy / Mostly happy / Always happy / I don’t know / I don’t want to answer this

This is a broad measure of satisfaction with time online. It does not ask about sleep or other activities being displaced, dependence or loss of control, and cannot establish problematic-use prevalence. It is asked before the module split, with no app-specific breakdown or fixed recall period.

“Which of these have you used in the last 4 weeks?”Response options: Discord / Facebook / Facebook Messenger / Facebook Messenger Kids / Instagram / Pinterest / Reddit / Snapchat / TikTok / WhatsApp / Telegram / YouTube / YouTube Kids / X / Twitter / Online games / Another app or website not shown here / I don’t use apps or websites or play online games / I don’t know / I can’t remember / I don’t want to answer this

A1 is asked before the survey splits into modules. For this entry, Underage Use covers the 288 children aged 11–12 in Module 2 (data tables, Module2 worksheet, Table 100, unweighted base). Eleven named services qualify; YouTube is excluded because supervised access cannot be distinguished (comparison report, PDF pp.10–11). Child-specific services and the online-games category are also excluded. This measures use, including use without an account.

“This section is all about using different apps, websites, messaging and online games.…” “Which of these have you used in the last 4 weeks?”“(Even if you have stopped using them, please tick if you have used them during this time).”“You can choose more than one.”

Core question for ages 8-17. Full response roster appears in the expandable Underage Use tile.

“In the last 4 weeks have you set up your own account or profile on any of the below?”“This is when you have your own log-in to share or watch content and interact with others online.”

The second quotation is the respondent-facing definition of account or profile. Asked only of secondary-school children in Module 1, for services they use; the under-13 respondents are secondary-school children aged 11-12. Measures recent account setup, not all accounts held or ownership among all 8-12s.

“Which of these have you used in the last 4 weeks?”

A1 lists 14 named apps and an online-games category. The 14 apps are counted; the games category is not. Services selected here, plus services entered at A2, become the choices for M2.5, which asks where harmful content was seen.

“Where did you see”

M2.5 with A.1 platforms carried forward as the answer options, asked for bullying content selected at M2.2 Block 1. Per-platform rates measure where bullying content was seen; M2.7 (PDF pp.34–35) separately distinguishes whether the respondent was the target or a witness.

“Where did you see”

M2.5 with A.1 platforms carried forward as the answer options, asked for harms selected at M2.2 Block 7 (eating disorder).

“Where did you see”

M2.5 with A.1 platforms carried forward as the answer options, asked for harms selected at M2.2 Block 8 (suicide / self-harm).

“Where did you see”

M2.5 with A.1 platforms carried forward as the answer options, asked for harms selected at M2.2 Block 2a (violence).

“Which of these have you used in the last 4 weeks?”

A1 names services used in the last four weeks. For children aged 11–12 in Module 2, the index counts TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, X (Twitter), Discord, Telegram, Reddit and Pinterest. This is a use question; the content-harm follow-up M2.5 is separate.