Parents say too many school tests in Britain

A majority of parents believe youngsters are under too much pressure from school tests and don’t spend enough time playing out on their own, a survey has found.

Research by parenting website Mumsnet revealed two-thirds of mothers and fathers think there is too much testing in schools, while 86 per cent believe children feel pressured to conform to unhealthy media images.

More than three-quarters say children don’t play out enough on their own. To make matters worse, 75 per cent of parents say long working hours make it difficult for them to spend enough time with their children.

The survey asked more than 1,000 parents their views on the pressures that children face in today’s society

Commenting on the results, Justine Roberts, founder of Mumsnet, said: “Employers need to think carefully about the type of commitments they are asking their employees to make.

“If we want the next generation to be well-adjusted we need to give parents time to parent. “And that means being flexible in hours and allowing people to work smarter.”

Meanwhile a century-old exam used by the UK’s top private schools is set to undergo its first major overhaul in decades.

Plans are being drawn up to put the Common Entrance exam online in a bid to make it less stressful for young pupils, according to the Independent Association of Prep Schools.

First introduced in 1904, Common Entrance is an exam taken by youngsters applying to private secondary schools, including top institutions like Eton College, at age 11 and 13.

Pupils are entered for the exam if they have been offered a place at a school, subject to passing it, and the papers are then marked by the relevant school.

All pupils take Common Entrance in English, maths and science, and at age 13+ they can also take French, geography, German, Greek, history, Latin, religious studies and Spanish. Secondary schools choose which options they require from pupils, which means youngsters applying to more than one school could have to sit several subjects.

Critics have also raised concerns in the past that the exam is too intensive, and overloads prep schools’ syllabuses.

On the other hand half of children worry about their school work and exams.

The National Foundation for Educational Research survey, which questioned almost 2,000 eight to 17-year-olds, also found that 25 per cent do not like being at school most of the time, while 59 per cent do.

Three-quarters (75 per cent) of those questioned said their school work is worth doing, but just half (51 per cent) said most of the time their lessons are interesting.

Almost 90 per cent felt that schools should help pupils with their problems rather than exclude them, and just 15 per cent thought their schools always acted fairly in excluding pupils.