General Article Setting more exams to combat stress among school students is utterly absurd

Topic Selected: Mental Health
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Ceri Brown, University of Bath

Schools minister Nick Gibb reportedly advised MPs that young people should face more frequent tests in secondary school, to better prepare them for the exam stress they experience by the time they take their GCSEs. This is a surprising and somewhat short-sighted approach – not unlike proposing more regular alcohol consumption as the solution to binge drinking.

It is hard to understand what appears to be a blatant disregard for the mental health of children and young people on the part of the schools’ minister – especially given that this government has repeatedly called on schools to play a larger role in addressing the purported mental health crisis among students. The prime minister herself has called for an end to the “hidden injustice” of mental illness that “too often starts in childhood and that when left untreated, can blight lives”.

Stressed-out students

To be clear, there is no doubt that exams contribute to ...

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