A UK-focused systematic review identifies six key priority areas for primary-secondary school transitions: familiarity, relationships, intrapersonal skills, pastoral support, collaboration, and families¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · review r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Meta-aggregative synthesis of 34 UK empirical studies (six mixed-methods, 13 quantitative, 15 qualitative) yielded six non-mutually-exclusive priority-area themes for transitions provision. → Bagnall 2026

Evidence¶

Bagnall 2026¶

Bagnall, C. L., Edge, D., Banwell, E., Seymour, R., Garnett, N., Mason, C., Panayiotou, M., Jindal-Snape, D., Packer, R., Hodgkin, K., Skerritt, C., Donaldson, C., Birchwood, J., McAreavey, A., Cunningham, E., Symonds, J. E., & Holliman, A. (2026). A Mixed-methods Study of How to Improve Primary-secondary Transitions in England: Combining Academic Research with Policy and Practice Consultation. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-026-10174-z

q3 · i? · review · r2

Systematic literature review (Study 1), pre-registered with PROSPERO, synthesising UK empirical research published 2008-2025 via meta-aggregation and thematic synthesis. The synthesis produced "six themes, identified as key priority areas": familiarity, relationships, intrapersonal skills, pastoral, collaboration, and families (Table 3).

"Data from the 34 research papers (six mixed-methods, 13 quantitative and 15 qualitative papers) are presented below, separated under six themes, identified as key priority areas, to address RQ1."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Children's self-regulation and intrapersonal skills such as emotional control, adaptability and optimism are linked to more successful transitions, and negative pre-transfer expectations tend to be self-fulfilling — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• There is a need for a standardised, validated wellbeing instrument suitable for longitudinal use to evaluate primary-secondary transitions interventions — related
• A UK-wide expert panel (n=30) conceptualised transitions-context emotional wellbeing as affective state, tangible signs of adjustment, and mechanisms to maintain a stable affective state — related
• Bridging projects that provide exposure to secondary school teachers and environments during Year 6, with continuity into Year 7, appeared effective in easing transitions — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Transitioning to secondary school alongside primary school peers helped children settle, while transitioning without peers could lead to difficult transitions — related
• Discourse about primary-secondary school transitions in the literature is predominantly negative, with only 2% of studies using a predominantly positive discourse — related