Children complain pushy parents and SATs leave them 'stressed and nervous' by 11

By Laura Clark for the Daily Mail
Updated:

SATS tests and pressure from pushy parents are leaving a generation of 11-year-olds ‘stressed and nervous’, according to a study.

Children told researchers the exams also undermine their home lives by denying them free time with their families.

Youngsters say their primary school years are marred by feelings of anxiety and inadequacy due to crunch exams and parental expectations of their performance.

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Pressure: Children say their time at primary school is marred by exams. (Picture posed by models)

They were, however, broadly in favour of being tested at school, with many admitting it helped them to learn.

The ground-breaking study, by researchers at Queen's University, Belfast, considers nearly 1,000 children's views of the testing system.

Eleven and 12-year-olds in England and Wales were questioned about science assessments.

It found that children were broadly in favour of being tested at school, with many admitting it helped them learn.

But the research, commissioned by the Wellcome Trust, also raised concerns about the possible effects on children's mental health.

'The impact of science assessment on friendships and home life was largely negative,' the report said.

'Fewer than one in five children recorded any positive effect. The main reasons for the negative impact of assessment on children's friendships were related to competitiveness, deteriorating relationships, negative emotions and bullying.'

One child told researchers: 'My parents put pressure on me so much that I have a headache.'

Another warned: 'It affects my home life if I get a bad mark in a test as my parents are angry.'

A third spoke of the toll on both home life and friendships, saying: 'My family push me too much and my friends get all nervous and angry and don't want to be friends anymore.'

A fourth said: 'I was just stressed and my siblings wouldn't leave me alone to study and I would be mad and my parents would take everything away from me: phone, computer etc. They put too much pressure on me.'

Some youngsters said they felt 'dumb' and vulnerable to being picked on for doing badly.

Youngsters in England most commonly used the word 'nervous' to describe their feelings about tests. Their answers to a question about the wider impact of testing were longer than for any other in the survey.

But parents themselves had little inkling of the effect on their children. Only 13 per cent said youngsters were under pressure.

The researchers concluded that teachers, parents and the Government 'must acknowledge that assessment regimes can affect the personal development and confidence of children' and attempt to minimise the problem.

Education Secretary Michael Gove has pledged to review the SATs testing system, where youngsters sit exams in their final year of primary school in maths and English, but has said it will remain unchanged for 2011.

Science SATs were abolished last year, with those questioned among the last to take them.

In Wales, all SATs were axed in 2004.

According to the survey, 95 per cent of youngsters said science assessment was 'useful', but only 10 per cent said SATs were the best way of finding out how well they were doing in the subject.

Children like tests that give them feedback, it was claimed, but didn't associate those benefits with SATs.

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