Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of year 6 SATs on the mental health of 11 year olds in (a) Hull West and Hessle constituency and (b) England.

Statutory assessments at the end of Key Stage 2 are a fundamental element of our primary education system. They enable teachers and parents to identify the areas in which individual pupils might require additional support so they can succeed at secondary school and help us to hold primary schools to account for the education they provide. However, statutory assessments in primary schools are not high stakes for individual pupils and are not designed to cause them stress or anxiety. National Curriculum tests undergo a robust three year development process which takes account of pupils’ experiences of the tests through large scale representative trialling and review by teachers, head teachers and assessment and inclusion experts.

Schools should encourage all pupils to work hard and achieve well, but we do not recommend that they devote excessive preparation time for assessments and certainly not at the expense of a pupil’s wellbeing. We continue to trust teachers to administer tests in a way that does not put undue pressure on pupils. Schools should provide appropriate support as part of a whole school approach to supporting the wellbeing and resilience of pupils. We would encourage schools to ensure that any child experiencing high levels of stress speaks to their teachers or school counsellors.