Young in Oslo is a unique Ungdata-study that has been conducted since the mid-1990s. The survey provides important information about what it is like to grow up in Oslo, and how this has changed over time.
The start time for the survey in 2026 is 19 January, and it will be carried out continuously in schools.
Ungdata is a national data collection scheme, designed to conduct children and youth surveys at the municipal level in Norway. In Oslo, the survey is called “Young in Oslo” and has been conducted on a regular basis since 1996. The survey in 2026 will provide an overview of how children and young people in Oslo are doing, and what they do in their spare time.
Around 60,000 pupils from 5th grade to 3rd grade in upper secondary school from all of Oslo's districts are invited to take part in the Young in Oslo 2026 survey. It is carried out at school and is a good opportunity for young people in Oslo to tell politicians, researchers and others about what it is like to be young today.
The survey provides important knowledge so that Oslo can become an even better city to grow up in. The survey is conducted by the research institute NOVA, which is part of OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University.
More information for pupils about the survey (ungdata.no) in Norwegian.
More information for parents and guardians about the survey (ungdata.no) in Norwegian.
Information in other languages
See information about the survey in other languages than Norwegian and English (ungdata.no).
Research ethics and privacy
Consent from the pupils
- Consent to participate in research is a fundamental principle of research ethics.
- Young in Oslo is a voluntary survey, and children and young people themselves decide whether they want to participate.
- The consent takes place after the pupils have been informed about the survey, by answering the questions in the survey.
- Schools are required to provide all pupils who participate in the survey with information about the purpose of the survey, that participation is voluntary, and other matters related to privacy and emergency preparedness. All pupils will be informed about this in the classroom before they answer the survey.
- Those who choose to participate can skip questions they do not want to answer or end the survey along the way, without having to give a reason.
- Prior to the survey (at the beginning of January 2026), pupils and parents/guardians will be sent an information letter. Parents/guardians will also have access to the questionnaire. The schools will also post information on their websites.
Consent from parents/guardians in primary and lower secondary school
Parents/guardians of pupils in primary and lower secondary school must consent for their child to participate in Young in Oslo. In Young in Oslo, this is done by informing parents/guardians about the survey in advance. Parents/guardians who consent to the child's participation do not need to take any action. Parents/guardians who do not want their child to participate must notify the contact teacher/school before the survey starts, no later than 16 January 2026.
The National Committee for Research Ethics in the Social Sciences and the Humanities (NESH) has issued a statement on the use of passive consent from parents/guardians in the Ungdata surveys. NESH finds that it is prudent to rely on passive consent from parents/guardians in the implementation of Ungdata when the requirements related to information and reservation have been met. Read NESH's statement here (forskningsetikk.no) (in Norwegian).
Right to make reservations for parents/guardians of pupils in upper secondary school
Pupils in upper secondary school are over the age of 16 and can consent to participation in social science research without the consent of their parents/guardians.
Parents/guardians of pupils under the age of 18 are still given the opportunity to reserve their child from participating in the survey. Parents/guardians who wish to use the right of reservation must notify the contact teacher/school before the survey starts, no later than 16 January 2026.
Processing of data and personal data
For pupils from 5th to 10th grade, the survey is anonymous. This means that it is not possible to identify any individual through their answers.
For pupils in upper secondary school, there are more background questions than for pupils in primary and lower secondary school, but neither name, address nor other directly identifiable questions are asked. All answers will be treated as strictly confidential. Neither teachers, employees in the administration nor others in the municipality, will have access to personal data (expect a few employees at KORUS Oslo, see below). Read more about this in the section on special information that applies to pupils in upper secondary school below.
The results are published through statistics that show how children and adolescents as a whole have responded, or how different groups have responded (e.g. by age or geographical areas). No individual can be recognized in the published results. Only researchers at OsloMet and a few employees at KORUS, in addition to the company that registers the responses (Rambøll), will have access to all the information collected.
Children and young people who participate in Young in Oslo must be sure that no one will know what exactly they have answered to the survey. In order to safeguard the integrity of the participants in the survey, publication rules (ungdata.no) have been introduced (in Norwegian).
The rules apply to reports that are published publicly at municipal and city district level and mean that the reports only show results when a certain number of participants have answered the individual questions in the survey.
Special information that applies to pupils in upper secondary school
In Young in Oslo, personal data is processed in the survey in upper secondary school. The surveys in primary and lower secondary schools are anonymous. Young in Oslo in upper secondary school collects more background information than in primary and lower secondary school. This includes information about which education program the pupil attends, country background, living situation and parents' work situation.
Although neither name, address nor other directly identifiable information is mapped in the survey, the data for upper secondary school are considered personal data.
The survey for upper secondary schools involves the processing of what is defined in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (datatilsynet.no) as "special categories of personal data of a very personal nature and on a large scale". NOVA, together with Sikt – the knowledge sector's service provider, has carried out a data protection impact assessment (DPIA) (pdf) (in Norwegian). The DPIA has been assessed by the data protection officer at OsloMet and approved by NOVA's Director.
Sikt has assessed that the processing of personal data in Young in Oslo is in accordance with the Personal Data Act (Project title: Ungdata 2024-, project number 844317). The processing of personal data in Young in Oslo only applies to the part of the survey that includes participants in upper secondary school.
In order for the processing of personal data to be lawful, it must have a legal basis for processing. The legal basis for processing is that Young in Oslo safeguards important public interests (cf. Article 6 (1) (e) of the General Data Protection Regulation, cf. Article 3 (b), cf. Section 8 of the Personal Data Act) and that the purpose is research (Article 9 (2) (j) of the General Data Protection Regulation, cf. Section 9 of the Personal Data Act).
Participants' answers will be treated as strictly confidential. Only a limited number of people have access to data containing personal data. Those who have access are researchers at OsloMet and a few employees at KORUS, in addition to the company that registers the responses (Rambøll). Only employees who will work with data from Young in Oslo will have access. Everyone who processes data that contain personal data has signed a declaration of confidentiality and has a duty of confidentiality.
NOVA uses Services for Sensitive Data (TSD) that meets the strict requirements of the law for the processing and storage of sensitive research data. Research data containing indirect personal data will be stored for five years – until 2031. After that, the data is anonymized and stored for further use for research and development purposes.
Participants have the right to request to see what personal data has been registered about them and can also request correction and deletion. There is little chance that the rights can be fulfilled, since no names or other direct personal data are collected. Participants have the right to protest and complain to the Norwegian Data Protection Authority.
It is also possible to contact the data protection officer at OsloMet by e-mail: personvernombud@oslomet.no.
Available support after the survey
For most people, the questions in the survey will be unproblematic to answer. However, some may find certain topics difficult. Since it is not possible to find out who has answered what, Young in Oslo cannot be used by the individual child or young person to speak up if they need help or want to get in touch with someone. Nor will it be possible for anyone to follow up on what the individual has answered.
Everyone who participates in the survey is therefore informed before the survey starts that they can contact the school health service or the Red Cross's counselling service "Kors på halsen" (korspaahalsen.rodekors.no) if they want to talk to an adult.
The school health service has been informed that the survey is being carried out and is being prepared if there are inquiries from the pupils. Both before and after the survey, all pupils will be informed about who they can turn to if they need to talk to someone.
What is it like to grow up in Oslo?
The Young in Oslo 2026 survey is one of the largest child and youth surveys conducted in Norway. Around 60,000 pupils from 5th grade in primary school to 3rd grade in upper secondary school from all of Oslo's districts are invited to participate.
The survey is conducted during school hours and is a good opportunity for children and young people to tell politicians, researchers and others about what it is like to grow up in Oslo.
The survey provides a broad picture of children and young people's everyday lives. Among other things, the survey provides answers to how many people feel lonely, about well-being and dissatisfaction, about quality of life and mental health – and how many that lack someone to talk to about difficult things. This is unique knowledge that is not readily available in other ways.
The research institute NOVA at OsloMet is conducting Young in Oslo on behalf of the City of Oslo, which will use the results to make Oslo an even better city to grow up in.
Who is responsible for the survey?
The research institute NOVA at OsloMet is conducting the survey on behalf of the City of Oslo – in collaboration with KORUS.
NOVA is a research institute that conducts research on, among other things, adolescents and upbringing. NOVA is part of OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University. Read more about NOVA.
KORUS is an abbreviation for Centre of Competence for Substance Abuse and Prevention and consists of seven centres that work with knowledge about the field of substance abuse. Their client is the Norwegian Directorate of Health. Read more about KORUS (korus.no) (in Norwegian).
The survey is part of Ungdata, which is carried out in schools across the country. The Directorate of Health pays for the municipalities to use Ungdata.
What do we ask?
In the survey, we ask pupils how they are doing and what they do in their spare time.
All pupils are asked questions about leisure activities, media use, friendships, family, school, local environment, bullying, health, well-being and quality of life. We also ask about the pupils' gender and grade level.
Primary school pupils receive a shorter questionnaire adapted to their age.
Pupils in lower and upper secondary school are asked about more topics than primary school pupils, including what they think about their future, about violence, drugs, rule breaking, sexual harassment, neighbourhood affiliation and parents' education.
Pupils in upper secondary school are also asked questions about sexuality, education programmes, parents' work situation, country background and living situation.
Conducting the survey
The survey is conducted in the classroom with an adult present. One school lesson has been set aside, which starts with the pupils being informed about the survey, and that they are made aware that participation is completely voluntary.
The pupils who are going to participate log in to a website with a random one-time code that cannot be linked to the person. The answers are given by ticking off the questionnaire. They can answer in Norwegian or English. It is also possible to have the questions read aloud.
It is voluntary for the pupils to participate, and they can skip questions they do not want to answer or stop answering along the way if they wish. All answers will be treated as strictly confidential. Only researchers at OsloMet and a few employees at KORUS, in addition to the company that registers the responses (Rambøll), will have access to all the information collected.
The first results from the survey will be available in the summer of 2026.
Publications from Young in Oslo 2023
- Bakken, A. (2023). Ung i Oslo 2023. Ungdomsskolen og videregående. NOVA-rapport 6/23. Oslo: NOVA, OsloMet (oda.oslomet.no)
- Enstad, F. og Bakken, A. (2023). Ung i Oslo 2023. 5.–7. trinn. NOVA-rapport 7/23. Oslo: NOVA, OsloMet (oda.oslomet.no)
Project manager and contact information
If you have any questions, please send an e-mail to project manager Anders Bakken. The email address for Young in Oslo 2026 is ungioslo@oslomet.no.
