National Curriculum Tests

(asked on 11th May 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of SATs on primary children’s mental health.


Answered by
Robin Walker Portrait
Robin Walker
This question was answered on 18th May 2022

The department knows that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people and will have an impact in the longer-term. We expect leaders and teachers to consider their pupils’ mental health and wellbeing as a priority and identify those who may need additional support.

Although schools should encourage all pupils to work hard and achieve well in primary assessments, the department does not recommend that they devote excessive time to preparation, and certainly not at the expense of pupils’ mental health and wellbeing. Schools should support a culture of wellbeing amongst staff and pupils.

Children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing is a priority for this government. The department is continuing to help schools support children and young people’s wellbeing, announcing in May 2021 more than £17 million of mental health funding to improve mental health and wellbeing support in schools and colleges. This includes £9.5 million dedicated to training senior mental health leads in over 8,000 schools and colleges, with an additional £3 million announced this year to extend this training to even more schools and colleges. The training will equip leads with the skills and knowledge to develop a culture and ethos that promotes positive mental health wellbeing, as well as how to make the best use of local resources to support children and young people experiencing issues such as anxiety.

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. This site is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mental-health-and-wellbeing-support-in-schools-and-colleges#mental-health-and-wellbeing-resources.

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