Parents often talk to class teachers about wanting their children to become more confident.
In classes in schools around the world, we encourage children to share their answers and opinions, try something new, speak in front of others and believe in themselves. But confidence is difficult to teach in isolation. Telling a child to “be confident” is rarely enough.
Perhaps confidence is something children need to experience.
When a child cooks a meal, sews on a button, navigates somewhere independently, learns first aid or completes a task they initially thought was too difficult, something important happens. They have tangible evidence that they are capable.
For many children, these moments of success can reveal strengths that the traditional school day has not yet given them an opportunity to show.
Schools are generally very good at recognising achievement. Academic progress is celebrated, sporting success is applauded and musical and dramatic talents are given opportunities to shine.
But what about the child who has not yet discovered their “thing”?
What about the pupil who is not at the top of the class, not selected for the school team nor keen to volunteer for the stage?
That child may be a wonderful problem-solver. They may be remarkably practical, patient, resourceful or dependable. They may discover that they can cook, mend, organise, communicate, care for others or persevere when something goes wrong.
These abilities matter enormously in life, yet children do not always have opportunities to discover, or be recognised for them.
This was one of the most striking findings from our recent research into the impact of our life skills Award for children aged 3-13.
What did the research tell us?
During summer 2026, an independent researcher surveyed children, parents and teachers in schools in 50 countries about the impact of the Junior Duke on children’s independence, confidence and resilience.
The clearest message to emerge was around confidence and pride.
97% of teachers said that the Award helps children to build confidence.
96% of pupils said they are proud of themselves for finishing things that are hard.
And perhaps most significantly:
90% of pupils said the programme showed them that they are good at things beyond schoolwork.
That last statistic deserves our attention.
Nine out of ten children recognising that they have abilities beyond their academic work suggests that practical life-skills education can do something much bigger than simply teach children how to complete useful tasks.
It can change how children see themselves.
The numbers tell an important story, but the comments from teachers, parents and pupils help us understand what is happening behind those numbers.
Teachers repeatedly described seeing children becoming more willing to talk about their achievements, engage with adults and attempt unfamiliar tasks.
One teacher told us, “Even the quieter children embraced the challenges and enjoyed the certificates and badges being presented in front of their friends.”
Another observed, “Pupils are increasingly confident when tackling unfamiliar tasks... There is also clear evidence of improved resilience in their learning behaviours.”
Others spoke about children proudly sharing completed challenges with teachers and classmates, communicating with a wider range of adults around school and becoming increasingly comfortable explaining what they had achieved.
These may sound like small changes but they aren't.
A child voluntarily approaching a little-known adult to show them something they have accomplished is demonstrating pride. A quieter pupil accepting recognition in front of their peers is experiencing success publicly. A child attempting an unfamiliar task despite being unsure whether they can do it is practising courage and resilience.
Each experience adds another piece of evidence to a child's developing sense of:
“I can do this.”
Thoughts from home
Parents noticed similar changes at home. They noticed that their children didn't know how to do things just by watching and that they learned better by doing things themselves. They also liked having a framework of age-appropriate challenges to have fun working through together at home.
They described children becoming more independent, taking greater responsibility and being more willing to attempt things for themselves.
One parent told us, “Since starting the Junior Duke, I’ve noticed my child has become much more confident and independent. They’re more willing to take on challenges and show real pride in completing tasks.”
Another described how their child had learned household skills and could now make their own bed and breakfast.
These practical achievements may seem very ordinary to adults but, to a child, they are anything but ordinary.
Being trusted to complete a real task sends a powerful message: you are capable.
Completing it sends an even more powerful one: I proved that I am capable.
There is an important distinction between praise and earned pride. Both have their place, but when a child has struggled with something, persevered and eventually succeeded without a parent stepping in to do it for them, nobody needs to persuade them that they have achieved something.
They know.
Giving more children a chance to shine
Perhaps this is where life-skills education has one of its greatest strengths.
It broadens the range of ways in which children can experience success.
Traditional measures of achievement inevitably favour particular strengths. Life-skills challenges create a different arena.
Suddenly, the child who does not usually receive the highest mark may be the person showing someone else how to complete a practical task.
The pupil who rarely speaks in class may arrive desperate to tell their teacher about something they accomplished at home.
A child who has never considered themselves particularly “good” at anything may discover that they are patient, creative, resilient, practical or resourceful.
And once children begin to see themselves as capable in one area, that belief does not often remain there.
Confidence can travel.
The child who thinks, “I didn't know how to do that, but I learned,” has discovered something far more valuable than one individual skill.
They have learned that not being able to do something YET is not the same as being unable to do it.
Broadening what we celebrate
None of this means placing less value on academic, sporting or artistic achievement.
It means making the circle of achievement wider.
If we want confident young people, we need to give them many different opportunities to discover their strengths.
We need occasions when success is not determined by a test score, reading age, fastest time or place in a team.
We need children to solve real problems, take responsibility, learn from mistakes, persevere, help others, look after their corner of the world and complete things that genuinely matter.
And then we need to notice.
Because for the child whose strengths have previously been less visible, having an adult recognise a practical achievement can be enormously powerful.
Our research has reinforced something that many teachers instinctively know: children flourish when they discover that they have something valuable to contribute.
Perhaps, then, the question for schools is not simply:
“How do we make our pupils more confident?”
Perhaps it is:
“How many different opportunities are we giving every child to experience genuine success?”
Because when children repeatedly experience themselves doing difficult things, solving problems and developing useful skills, confidence stops being something we ask them to have.
It becomes something they have evidence to believe.
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