For years, education systems have measured success mainly through test scores. But European evidence increasingly points to a simple fact: how a student feels at school and how well they perform at school aren’t separate stories.
PISA’s 2022 results (OECD, 2023) show that students with a strong sense of belonging at school consistently score higher in maths than those without, even as bullying remains widespread across Europe. The HBSC survey (2021/2022) found declining life satisfaction among adolescents compared to just four years earlier, with some countries seeing over half of 13- and 15-year-old girls reporting feeling low weekly. The WHO’s own analysis (2022) reaches a similar conclusion: today’s adolescents report poorer mental health than previous generations did at the same age.
It’s not only about students. Teacher wellbeing and student wellbeing move together, classroom climate depends heavily on how supported teachers themselves feel, and rising teacher burnout across Europe has knock-on effects for both learning and staff retention.
The takeaway for schools
This evidence doesn’t suggest wellbeing and achievement compete for the same time and attention, it suggests they rise and fall together. A school that treats social-emotional development as foundational, rather than as an extra when time allows, tends to be a school where learning also thrives. One practical starting point echoed across this research: strengthening students’ sense of belonging, through consistent relationships, recognition, and a predictable, respectful climate, is one of the more evidence-backed levers schools have for supporting both wellbeing and performance at once.
This is the evidence base the EU has drawn on in recent policy, including the 2022 Council Recommendation on Pathways to School Success and the European Commission’s 2024 guidelines for school leaders and educators, and the foundation Thriving Schools builds on in its work with schools across Cyprus, Greece, Italy, and Romania.
References:
Cosma, A., Abdrakhmanova, S., Taut, D., Schrijvers, K., Catunda, C., & Schnohr, C. (2023). A focus on adolescent mental health and well-being in Europe, central Asia and Canada: Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) international report from the 2021/2022 survey (Vol. 1). World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe.
Cosma, A., Molcho, M., & Pickett, W. (2024). A focus on adolescent peer violence and bullying in Europe, central Asia and Canada: Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) international report from the 2021/2022 survey (Vol. 2). World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe. https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/376323
Council of the European Union. (2022). Council Recommendation of 28 November 2022 on pathways to school success (2022/C 469/01). Official Journal of the European Union, C469/1.
European Commission, Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture. (2024). The twin challenge of equity and excellence in basic skills in the EU: An EU comparative analysis of the PISA 2022 results. Publications Office of the European Union.
OECD. (2023). PISA 2022 results (Volume I): The state of learning and equity in education. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/53f23881-en