Sats: Nearly 9 in 10 children feel pressure to do well

How do you feel when you have exams coming up? Confident, worried or a bit stressed?

In a survey for Newsround by ComRes, 87% of children aged 10 and 11 said they feel pressure to do well in their Standard Assessment Tests.

Sats begin this week for hundreds of thousands of children in England. They are used to measure how children in year 2 and 6 are doing in primary school.

The tests have changed this year and some people say they are too difficult and put too much pressure on children but the government says that tests are important and should not be a cause of stress for pupils.

Most children questioned said they feel under pressure to do well in their tests and some said they are stressed, worried or moody in the run up to exams.

However, nearly half said they don't mind taking tests and some even said they enjoy them.

The government's Department of Education told Newsround:

"We are clear that these tests should not be stressful and we know that good schools manage them appropriately. Tests in Year 6 help teachers understand how pupils are doing and identify where additional support is needed, as well as helping us make sure schools are doing well. They are a key part of making sure young people master the skills they need to reach their potential and succeed in life.

"As a Government we recently asked young people what we could do to help them support their friends better. More than 1,700 young people gave their views and we will be investing £1.5 million in peer support based on what they have told us. We have also worked with NHS England to trial a scheme to establish single points of contact for schools to make mental health support more joined up and readily available when it's needed."