English children complete their SATs tests on the national curriculum in Year 6 (aged 10-11). In the weeks leading up to the Year 6 tests, ComRes interviewed 750 English children (weighted by age, gender, and region to be representative of England) about the tests. Their research revealed the following:
- When asked what the children thought about the tests, 62% said they enjoyed or didn’t mind them; 38% said they didn’t like or hated them.
- When asked how they felt about tests, the most common words chosen were nervous (59%), worried (39%), stressed (27%), and confident (21%).
- Most children (59%) said that they felt some pressure to do well in school tests, but the vast majority (81%) thought they had enough time to relax after school during the week.
- A quarter of the children said they found it hard to concentrate when they had tests, with slightly more worrying about their school work (32%) or wanting to show how much they know (35%).
Source: BBC Newsround SATs Poll (2016), ComRes.