National tests and the wellbeing of primary school pupils: new evidence from the UK

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National tests and the wellbeing of primary school pupils: new evidence from the UK

Jerrim, J; (2021) National tests and the wellbeing of primary school pupils: new evidence from the UK. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice 10.1080/0969594X.2021.1929829. (In press). Green open access

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Abstract

There is growing concern about the mental wellbeing of young people, including how this is related to national tests. This is a particularly important policy issue in England, where it is claimed that the end of primary Key Stage 2 tests cause schools, pupils and teachers stress. I investigate this issue using data from the Millennium Cohort Study, comparing the wellbeing of pupils in England (measured around the point they are sitting their Key Stage 2 tests) to the rest of the UK (where Key Stage 2 tests are not taken). No evidence is found that the Key Stage 2 tests in England is associated with lower levels of happiness, enjoyment of school, self-esteem or children’s mental wellbeing. Likewise, no evidence is found that children who are happier, more self-confident or with higher levels of wellbeing obtain higher Key Stage 2 test scores.

Type:	Article
Title:	National tests and the wellbeing of primary school pupils: new evidence from the UK
Open access status:	An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI:	10.1080/0969594X.2021.1929829
Publisher version:	https://doi.org/10.1080/0969594X.2021.1929829
Language:	English
Additional information:	This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Keywords:	Social Sciences, Education & Educational Research, Wellbeing, test anxiety, high-stakes testing
UCL classification:	UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Social Research Institute
URI:	https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10136327