Table 2.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on young people.

Sub-theme
Schooling and education	‘We have [software name] and then they set work on there as if it was homework but it's actually just lesson plans. Then we have to do all that work and send it back.’ [Participant 18, male, 13 years old]
	‘We're teaching ourselves everything and they would say email us if you have any problems and I'd email a teacher, I emailed about three, and none of them replied, so it was very difficult to get help.’ [Participant 11, female, 17 years old]
	‘I think it's been quite good because I think I've learnt a lot more than I would at school.’ [Participant 6, female, 13 years old]
	‘I find it a lot easier to learn at school, and probably learn more at school, because I don't read out what you've actually learnt, so you can do the work but I don't read it out or try to remember.’ [Participant 16, male, 15 years old]
	‘It's been harder to learn and I feel quite behind and I'm getting a bit stressed about catching up when I go back to school, and I know a lot of my friends are as well.’ [Participant 2, female, 14 years old]
	‘I would say it's not that much of a big deal but if you're like Year Ten, you're doing the GCSEs or A-levels then I think it might be more of a problem.’ [Participant 7, male, 13 years old]
	‘At first it really stressed me out because I was thinking I wasn't going to get the grades that I deserved … but I think looking back now I did miss out on a lot of stress.’ [Participant 10, female, 16 years old]
	‘If you're mates with your teacher, they might just subconsciously give you a better mark because they like you. It could just be the complete opposite. Lucky enough for me though, I was friends with all my teachers.’ [Participant 20, male, 16 years old]
	‘I think it's the middle of July that we're going to be going back for two weeks for 2 h per subject, so if you're doing three subjects that's 6 h [laughs]. It seems a bit useless to me.’ [Participant 11, female, 17 years old]
	‘I'm not sure how long they're planning to keep people distanced and stuff like that … hopefully we'll have very small classes.’ [Participant 13, female, 15 years old]
	‘I don't think I would be that worried because I know the teachers are going to be quite strict and they've said if you don't distance or if you don't listen to what the teacher is saying, they'll say you can't come back into school.’ [Participant 2, female, 14 years old]
	‘After a bit you do miss your friends and stuff. It'd be quite nice to go back to school.’ [Participant 12, male, 13 years old]
	‘I would probably prefer it if we didn't have to go to school ‘cos I'd prefer to stay at home than go to school anyway.’ [Participant 8, male, 13 years old]
	‘I felt kind of relieved [that the school closed].
	That's a small weight off my shoulders ‘cos I don't have to get up in the morning.’ [Participant 7, male, 13 years old]
Disruption to social networks	‘I thought it was going to be really horrible and everything, but you talk to people so much on your phone, constantly, just conversations or FaceTime.’ [Participant 15, female, 15 years old]
	‘I think I've been in my room for most of it, except for mealtimes.’ [Participant 4, male, 12 years old]
	‘I'm not really a sociable person so I don't really meet up with friends at all.’ [Participant 19, male, 15 years old]
	‘We'd take turns meeting one-to-one and now all of a sudden, we can meet in six which is really nice, so we take advantage of that, maybe once or twice a week. Just sit on the [park] in a socially distanced circle having a barbeque.’ [Participant 14, male, 17 years old]
	‘Normally you see your friends every day without having to organise it and arrange it and check with parents. But at the moment you have to plan a date, and everything has to be a bit more structured. It's not like you just see them every day.’ [Participant 3, female, 12 years old]
Hobbies and extracurricular activities	‘I have Italian friends, and I tried to make pizza Face Timing them. At the beginning it was bad, it was very bad, and right now it's so good!’ [Participant 17, male, 16 years old]
	‘Me and my mum just did so many projects. We made masks for all the relatives and we've got a sewing machine, so I was sewing some clothes.’ [Participant 10, female, 16 years old]
	‘I have a drama school, they're doing that on-line now. Every week they've been setting us tasks, make videos for them and putting it on to one big compilation … It's fun because they give us something to do instead of just sitting around playing games.’ [Participant 20, male, 16 years old]
	‘We'd go with our mum and dad usually and now we can go [bike riding] by ourselves.’ [Participant 1, female, 12 years old]