Young people and stopping smoking

This NEW section of the NCSCT website provides information and resources on stopping smoking for those working with young people.

There is justified concern about the increasing number of young people using nicotine vapes, especially those who are not smoking, or have never smoked, tobacco. However, there is also a need to retain focus on the number of young people smoking tobacco, the harm that this causes to their health and the benefits of stopping smoking.

Young people and stopping smoking

This briefing summarises the patterns and prevalence of smoking by young people, the impact of smoking tobacco upon their physical, mental and social health, and the benefits of cessation. The focus of this document is on providing guidance on how to assist young people to stop smoking.

Published August 2025. Last update August 2025. Next review due August 2026.

Resources: young people and stopping smoking

On this page we link to useful resources related to young people and stopping smoking.

NEW! Young people and stopping smoking training materials
We have developed materials for a short (1–2 hours) training session aimed at staff who already work with young people (e.g. school nurses, teachers, youth workers, staff in children’s services).

The course will enable participants to have constructive conversations about stopping smoking and to offer support to young people who want to stop smoking. The training materials include:

Course outline
PowerPoint presentation
Trainer manual
Changing perspectives worksheet
Young person profiles

Click here to download the training materials

Additional resources

Talk to FRANK is a government resource for schools and has information for young people on smoking tobacco: Talk to FRANK
The Department for Education published updated statutory guidance in July 2025, including education on the risks of smoking and nicotine pouches, for schools to implement before September 2026: Statutory guidance on Relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education.

Evidence on young people, smoking and stopping

This page links to evidence sources on young people and smoking, and young people and stopping smoking.

Young people and stopping smoking: evidence review and search methods

Patterns and prevalence of smoking in young people

Reasons associated with young people starting smoking

What is effective in helping young people to stop smoking

Case studies: young people and stopping smoking

Case studies: how some areas have developed support for young people wanting to stop smoking

Interestingly, we came across far fewer case studies for young people and stopping smoking than we did for young people and stopping vaping. We will continue to look out for and include on this page various examples of both individual case studies and service innovations about support to stop for young people who are smoking.

There is generally no formal evaluation of these services, and we include them purely as examples, not as recommendations. In fact, given the absence of evidence on young people and stopping smoking, we suggest that any innovation should also include evaluation.

We are interested to hear how you are supporting young people wanting to stop smoking. You can submit a case study on individual clients, or on your service response using the templates below. Please ensure any client details are anonymised and permission sought from clients to share their story. Submit it to kirstie.soar@ncsct.co.uk for consideration.

Young people and stopping smoking: Client case study

Young people and stopping smoking: Service delivery

Client case study: Smoke Free