guides

Average Screen Time for Kids in the UK

By Chaz Bagri24 July 20267 min read

Two young girls in summer dresses run through a tall grassy meadow in the evening light

Average screen time for kids in the UK, from Ofcom, Barb and the government's own report: what's measured for ages 3 to 8, and what isn't.

There is no official daily average for UK children aged 3 to 8. The closest measured figures are 127 minutes a day at age two, from a national study of babies growing up in England, and about 58 minutes a day of YouTube at home for 4 to 9 year olds, from the Barb viewing panel. Neither is a full count, and neither is a target.

Headlines about hours a day travel faster than the reports behind them. This page sets out what the official UK sources actually measured for young children, how they measured it, and what you can usefully do with the number. An average here means what a group of families reported, or what a panel recorded. It's a description, not a recommendation.

How much screen time do UK children aged 3 to 8 actually have?

Nobody publishes a single daily figure for this age band, but a handful of measures come close.

Time watching screens or playing computer games, per day, Age: 2; Figure: 127 minutes on average; Where it comes from: National study of babies in England, in the government's expert report
YouTube viewing at home, per week, Age: 4 to 9; Figure: 6 hours 47 minutes; Where it comes from: Barb panel, 2025, in Ofcom's 2026 report
Live broadcast TV, per week, Age: 4 to 15; Figure: 2 hours 32 minutes; Where it comes from: Barb panel, 2025, in Ofcom's 2026 report
Subscription and ad-funded streaming, per week, Age: 4 to 15; Figure: 4 hours 34 minutes; Where it comes from: Barb panel, 2025, in Ofcom's 2026 report
Goes online at all, Age: 3 to 7; Figure: 88 per cent; Where it comes from: Ofcom survey, reported by parents

The figure for two-year-olds is the only one that counts minutes across every kind of screen, rather than one platform or in-home viewing alone. The government's independent report on screen use by children under 5 reports that the same children averaged 29 minutes a day at nine months and 127 minutes at age two, when only 2 per cent didn't use screens daily.

The YouTube figure, from Ofcom's Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes Report, works out at about 58 minutes a day. It's one platform, though, and only what was watched at home. The TV and streaming figures cover everyone from 4 to 15, so they say little about a five-year-old in particular. Don't add the rows together: they overlap, and they cover different ages.

How do the figures change between 3 and 8?

What changes most is how many children are online, and which screen they reach for. These figures come from Ofcom's 2026 report and, for children aged 7 and under, are what parents said rather than what children said.

6 months to 2 years: 85 per cent of parents say their child ever looks at a screen, and 65 per cent say they go online. The smart TV is the most common way in (40 per cent), then tablets (36 per cent). Watching TV programmes or films is the commonest screen activity.
3 to 7 years: 88 per cent go online, and the tablet becomes the most common device. Two-thirds (65 per cent) make drawings or use colouring apps, 37 per cent game online, and 32 per cent listen to audiobooks.
6 and 7 years: 93 per cent go online.
8 and over: almost all (99 per cent) of 8 to 17 year olds go online, and 77 per cent of 8 and 9 year olds use a tablet to do it.

Among 3 to 5 year olds who watch videos online, cartoons and animations lead (80 per cent), then funny videos (43 per cent) and videos that help them learn (38 per cent).

So the big move between three and eight isn't only more minutes. It's from a shared television to a personal tablet, which is where solo use creeps in. That's the thing the government's Best Start in Life guidance asks under-5s' parents to watch for: "Avoid young children using screens alone".

Why can't anyone give you one number?

Because each source counts something different, and none of them counts everything.

Ofcom's survey asks parents what their child does, which tells you how many children do something but not for how long. Barb records viewing on the TV and on devices connected to home broadband in about 7,000 panel homes, and "does not capture out-of-home viewing". The national study counted minutes, but the figures reported stop at age two.

Ofcom also changed its method for the 2026 report. It says that as a result "our trends over time are indicative rather than absolute", so treat any headline saying children's screen time has gone up or down with care.

Then there's the counting itself. The government's expert panel noted that "parents may find judging an hour a day very difficult as young children tend to use devices in multiple short bursts". Ten minutes here and there is easy to underestimate, in a survey or at home.

And averages hide a wide spread. At age two, children in the lowest-income fifth of families averaged 179 minutes a day, against 97 minutes in the highest-income fifth, according to the same report. A national average of 127 hides that spread.

Should your child be near the average?

No. The guidance sets a lower line than the average, and the average isn't evidence of what's healthy. For 2 to 5 year olds, Best Start in Life says: "Try to keep it to 1 hour a day. Less if possible." The national average at age two was more than double that.

For children over 5, the UK has no hourly figure. In 2019 the UK Chief Medical Officers found the research "insufficiently conclusive to support UK CMO evidence-based guidelines on optimal amounts of screen use". Separate guidance for 5 to 16 year olds has been announced, but at the last update of this page it was still to be published. Our screen time by age guide lists what does exist, age by age, and the UK screen time guidance page sets out the under-5 advice word for word.

Most parents are comfortable with where they are. In Ofcom's 2026 report, 78 per cent of parents of under-8s agreed their child has a good balance between screen time and other activities. A better test than the average is the one in the guidance itself: "Ensure screen time of any kind doesn't replace sleep, physical activity, active play or direct parent-child interaction."

What can you do with your own number?

Count an ordinary week. Not the week you've decided to cut back, just a normal one, with every programme, tablet session and phone handed over in the supermarket queue. A tally on the fridge, in minutes, is enough.

Then compare it with the guidance rather than the average, and look at when the minutes fall. Screens in the hour before bed, at meals or on in the background matter more than the total suggests. If the number looks high, start with how much screen time is too much, which covers what to look at first, and the signs of too much screen time lists what tends to show up in sleep and mood. For under-3s, screen time for toddlers works through a real day.

The minutes worth winning back are usually the ones where a screen is the default rather than a choice: after school, before tea. Something ready to go helps. For a child of three or more, one option is a children's yoga mat they can work through alone, with each of its 15 poses laser-engraved and numbered.

When should the number send you to a health visitor or GP?

If your child's screen time keeps rising and you can't bring it down, or every switch-off ends in tears, or you're worried about their speech, sleep or mood, talk to your health visitor or GP. The number on its own isn't a diagnosis of anything. They can help you look at what sits around it.

Frequently asked questions

Is 7 hours of screen time normal for a child?

Not by any official UK measure for young children. The national daily average in the government's expert report is 127 minutes at age two, and even children in the lowest-income fifth of families averaged 179 minutes. Seven hours is 420 minutes, more than double either. If your child's days regularly look like that, look at what the screens are replacing, and talk to your health visitor or GP if it worries you.

Does screen time lower IQ?

Not in the way the question suggests. The government's expert report on under-5s found higher screen time linked with effects that were 'predominantly small, such as small reductions in cognitive development scores', and says a few stronger studies suggest screens may play a part. It also notes causality might run the other way. The report doesn't measure IQ at all.

What counts as screen time in these surveys?

It depends on the source. The study in the government's report counted time spent watching screens or playing computer games. Ofcom's survey asks parents of children aged 7 and under what their child does, not for how long. Barb measures viewing on televisions and devices connected to home broadband in its panel homes, and doesn't capture viewing away from home.

Where do the UK figures come from?

Three places. Ofcom's annual Children and Parents report, based on 5,008 interviews with parents of children aged 6 months to 17. Barb, the TV industry's viewing panel of about 7,000 homes, whose figures Ofcom reports. And a nationally representative study of babies growing up in England, reported in the government's independent report on screen use by under-5s.

Sources

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