Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has undertaken research on the potential effects of Standard Assessment Tests on children’s mental health and well being.

End of Key Stage 2 National Curriculum assessments, also known as Standard Assessment Tests (SATs), are an essential part of ensuring that all pupils master the basics of reading, writing and maths as set out in the National Curriculum and to prepare them for secondary school.

Although it is important that schools encourage pupils to do their best, this should not be at the expense of pupils’ mental health and wellbeing. Research conducted by the UCL Institute of Education and published in 2021 found that there was ‘little evidence to changes in [pupil] wellbeing around the time of Key Stage 2 tests, or that pupils in England become happier – either in general or regarding school – once these tests are over’.

The Department is committed to ensuring schools and colleges are safe, calm, and supportive educational environments which promote and support mental wellbeing.

The Department’s senior mental health lead training available to all state schools and colleges by 2025 supports this commitment. More than 10,000 schools and colleges have received senior mental health lead training grants so far, which includes more than 6 in 10 state funded secondary schools, and a further £10 million provided this year means up to two thirds of state schools and colleges can benefit by April 2023.

This is in addition to record funding for pupils’ mental health support through the NHS long term plan, and the £79 million increase announced in 2021, meaning more than 2.4 million pupils now have access in schools and colleges to a mental health support team. The number of teams will increase from 287 to over 500 by 2024. The Department has also recently brought together all its sources of advice for schools and colleges into a single site on GOV.UK, which includes signposting to external sources of mental health and wellbeing support for teachers, school staff and school leaders. The resources are available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mental-health-and-wellbeing-support-in-schools-and-colleges.

Neither the Department nor the Standards and Testing Agency (STA), who are responsible for the development of the tests, have any current plans for a formal review of the SATs papers for 2023. STA will continue to engage with schools, unions, and other stakeholders to understand their views on the papers this year, and with regard to all aspects of primary assessment.