The UK government has committed to reducing the amount of time pupils spend in GCSE exams in England by up to three hours on average. This comes after recommendations to cut exam time were made in an independent review of the national curriculum and school assessment.
Professor Becky Francis, who led the review, has said: “Exams are currently this very stressful, elongated period that young people have to endure, and it’s an unusually long period in England.”
But the government has announced the introduction of a new test. Children in year eight will take a reading assessment, intended to improve standards before they take their GCSEs. This seems to be different from the diagnostic tests in English and maths (also in year eight) recommended in the independent review’s final report.
Children in England are among the most tested in the world and are set to remain so. However, frequent testing isn’t a requirement of school education – and it could be having a serious effect on children’s wellbeing.
In our recent research, we wanted to explore how frequent, high-stakes exams – those with significant consequences, such as for your future career or education – affect children’s fear of failure. We also investigated whether children see school as competitive, how competitive they are, if they see other students as cooperative and whether they feel like they belong in school.
We analysed data from England and the Belgian region of Flanders, as these regions have very different systems when it comes to testing.
England is renowned for setting lots of tests that are high-stakes for pupils, teachers and schools. GCSE and A-level results affect pupils’ learning and career paths; schools are ranked by performance in tests that children sit in primary and secondary school.
Flanders, on the other hand, has no national high-stakes tests. Indeed, it had no nation-wide centrally-administered tests at all until 2024.
Our analysis used data from Pisa, a programme that measures 15-year-olds’ skills and knowledge in reading, mathematics and science in countries across the globe. Questions are also asked about wellbeing and school life. We analysed the data of the 5,242 English students (in 175 schools) in the assessment, as well as the 4,882 Flemish students (in 171 schools).
Competition and failure
It showed that in England, where high-stakes testing is common, students’ fear of failure is higher and they perceive more competition in school than in Flanders. By contrast, in Flanders, students perceive less competition and more cooperation from other students, and they have a higher sense of belonging and less fear of failure than their English counterparts.
The difference in fear of failure is explained partly by students experiencing more competition in England. For example, English students are more likely to report that their peers value competition and that they feel they are being compared with other students. Research by one of us (Carolyn Jackson) has shown that competition and comparisons are fuelled by testing.
Fear of failure is linked to lower academic performance.
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A positive sense of belonging has been linked to better academic performance, positive mental health and wellbeing, greater happiness, less stress, higher attendance and greater engagement in school.
Its value is accepted in England: Bridget Phillipson, secretary for education, recently announced her vision to foster student belonging in schools. But she discussed this at the same time as announcing more testing and related targets. According to our analyses, increased competition, which is associated with high-stakes testing, is likely to reduce rather than increase students’ sense of belonging.
Fear of failure – which is also higher in England – can lead to reduced academic performance. It’s also linked with missed opportunities for learning, lower emotional wellbeing and higher levels of stress, burnout and depression. Fear of failure is typically higher in competitive, rather than cooperative, learning contexts.
Overall, our analyses show the importance of creating education systems (and schools and classrooms) that downplay competition and instead foster cooperation and a sense of belonging. Systems like this are associated with lower fear of failure. Reducing fear of failure is crucial given that it is associated with the broad range of negative factors listed above.
This is especially important at the moment, as school-related stress is a major concern in many European countries. It has been linked to growing mental health problems among young people, especially girls.
Returning to the curriculum review, the panel’s push to reduce time spent in exams at GCSE may help slightly to reduce stress. Also, the recommendation to keep any new tests in year eight low stakes and diagnostic, and not to return to high-stakes Sats tests at this level, is encouraging in light of our findings.
Policymakers in Flanders are increasingly looking to learn lessons from the English system. But they would do well to avoid implementing changes that might increase competition and students’ fear of failure, and also reduce cooperation and feelings of belonging.
Currently, many more students in England than in Flanders report school-related pressure. That could soon change if Flanders introduces high-stakes testing and drives up competition.
Carolyn Jackson has received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and The Nuffield Foundation.
Mieke Van Houtte does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
