National examinations, children's well-being and academic achievement

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High-stakes national examinations are an important part of England's education system. The key stage 2 and GCSE examinations at the end of primary and secondary school are not only used to measure the academic competencies of pupils, but also play a fundamental role in school accountability. Yet there is growing concern amongst parents, teachers and education policymakers about the examination stress that young people suffer, and how this is potentially linked to the development of serious mental health issues. This concern has only increased in recent years, particularly amongst secondary school pupils, with the recent reforms made to GCSE examinations (with much more emphasis now placed upon the end-of-Year 11 tests). For instance, a series of media articles have highlighted how England's examinations are leading to "panic-attacks and crying" (https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/jun/22/how-new-gcses-affected-pupils-panic-attacks-crying-exams), that they are causing "serious stress and anxiety" (https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/may/17/stress-and-serious-anxiety-how-the-new-gcse-is-affecting-mental-health), with Lucy Powell MP (former shadow Secretary of State for Education) reportedly describing this as a "mental health ticking time bomb" (https://inews.co.uk/news/education/lucy-powell-mental-health-time-bomb-gcses/).The aim of this project is to provide new insight into the link between high-stakes examinations and young people's mental health within two research strands. In strand A we will investigate how indicators of pupils' mental health and well-being vary over the academic year and if "spikes" in mental health problems can be observed at key timepoints (e.g. during the examination season, during GCSE results week). For primary school pupils, the analysis will focus upon self-reported questionnaire data designed to measure children's mental well-being, collected as part of the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS). For secondary pupils, administrative data on GP appointments and hospital admissions will be used to explore the emergence of particularly serious mental health issues (e.g. incidence of self-harm). Together this will provide important new evidence about young people's well-being and mental health, whether such problems coincide with the approach of high-stakes national examinations and if it is possible to identify key mental health "flash-points" at certain points during the academic year. Of course, poor mental health in the lead-up to examinations (e.g. high levels of anxiety) can also affect young people's performance upon these tests. For instance, high levels of test anxiety or generally low-levels of well-being may affect young people's motivation at school, their capacity to revise and their ability to function adequately in an examination setting. We will explore this issue within strand B of the project by investigating the link between pupil's mental health/well-being and their achievement in high-stakes tests. Specifically, the project will analyse Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) and Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) data linked to the National Pupil Database to provide new insights into this issue. In doing so, we will generate important new evidence on the importance of well-being for young people's academic attainment.