Ofcom Children's Online Behaviour & Attitudes (COBA) 2024
Study details from the Studies index, with sources and citations for each field.
Notes · Non-probability (online panel); Children answer directly from age 8; parents answer for younger children.
References
Ofcom (2024) COBA Questionnaire— COBA 2024 Questionnaire (Children's Online Behaviour & Attitudes)
Ofcom / Critical Research (2025). Children's and Parents' Media Literacy Tracker 2024 — Children's Online Behaviour and Attitudes (COBA) Survey Questionnaire.
instrument- Publication page:
- https://www.ofcom.org.uk/media-use-and-attitudes/media-habits-children/children-and-parents-media-use-and-attitudes-report-2025
- Retrieved on:
- 2026-06-01
- Pages:
- 50
- Archived source:
- Download PDF
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SHA-256:
b41f4b3cdfbfa24c9542b731c914918f1759db7f11546f75fde8386f32a4f6be
Ofcom (2025) Children & Parents— Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes 2025
Ofcom (2025). Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes Report 2025. Published 7 May 2025.
report- Publication page:
- https://www.ofcom.org.uk/media-use-and-attitudes/media-habits-children/children-and-parents-media-use-and-attitudes-report-2025
- Retrieved on:
- 2026-05-21
- Pages:
- 67
- Archived source:
- Download PDF
- File verification
File verification details
SHA-256:
52d915a991bce41dd749622f014dbbe75e6cdd8621c4f0d4f28efd5f475fb5a3
Study details & methodology
| Name | Ofcom (2025) Children & Parents — Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes 2025p. 11open file ↗ “comprises three surveys: the Parents Only survey, Children’s Online Behaviour and Attitudes (COBA)” |
| Country | Ofcom (2025) Children & Parents — Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes 2025p. 11open file ↗ “children aged 3-17 in the UK” |
| Publication year | “Published 7 May 2025” Published 7 May 2025; reports on 2024 data. |
| Fieldwork dates | |
| Sample size | Ofcom (2025) Children & Parents — Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes 2025p. 11open file ↗ Full Children’s Online Behaviour and Attitudes sample: 3,406 children aged 3–17. Parents provide responses for children under 8; children aged 8–17 answer directly. The bullying questions and QC20 own-profile question shown here are child self-reports; their eligible bases differ from the full-study sample. |
| Age range | Ofcom (2025) Children & Parents — Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes 2025p. 11open file ↗ “children aged 3-17 in the UK” Children under 8 are reported via parents; 8+ answer directly. |
| Sampling | Ofcom (2025) Children & Parents — Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes 2025p. 11open file ↗ Non-probability online panel. |
Harms measured
| Bullying | Ofcom (2024) COBA Questionnaire — COBA 2024 Questionnaire (Children's Online Behaviour & Attitudes)p. 41open file ↗ “People can be nasty or hurtful. It could be behind someone’s back, to their face, through”“It could be by being nasty through social media, games or other websites.”“It could be done on purpose or as a joke that goes too far.” “And has this ever happened to you?”Response options: Yes / No / Don’t know / Prefer not to say QC53B personal-victimization question, asked of children aged 8–17 after consent. The definition includes both in-person and digital conduct; QC55 identifies the channel. |
| Underage Use | Ofcom (2024) COBA Questionnaire — COBA 2024 Questionnaire (Children's Online Behaviour & Attitudes)p. 31open file ↗ “Below is a list of some of the apps/ sites that you said earlier that you use.”“Some can be used by anyone, but others need you to set up a profile first.” “Please click on those where you have your own profile.” QC20, self-reported by children aged 8-17. |
Offline or broader-context measurement
| Bullying | Ofcom (2024) COBA Questionnaire — COBA 2024 Questionnaire (Children's Online Behaviour & Attitudes)p. 42open file ↗ “When somebody was nasty or hurtful to you did it happen in any of these ways?…” “Face to face” QC55, asked of 8-17s who said this had happened to them. |
Platforms measured
| Platform list | Ofcom (2024) COBA Questionnaire — COBA 2024 Questionnaire (Children's Online Behaviour & Attitudes)p. 31open file ↗ “Below is a list of some of the apps/ sites that you said earlier that you use.” QC20 documents own profiles on 21 eligible single apps among 8–12s. The combined YouTube/YouTube Kids option is excluded; Imgur permits supervised under-13 use. Triller is excluded because its applicable minimum-age policy could not be verified. |
Per-app measurement by harm
| Underage Use | Ofcom (2024) COBA Questionnaire — COBA 2024 Questionnaire (Children's Online Behaviour & Attitudes)p. 31open file ↗ “Please click on those where you have your own profile.” QC20 documents own profiles on 21 eligible single apps among 8–12s. The combined YouTube/YouTube Kids option is excluded; Imgur permits supervised under-13 use. Triller is excluded because its applicable minimum-age policy could not be verified. |