This year thousands of teenagers were subjected to unacceptable levels of stress because GCSEs have been made needlessly hard. There have been reports of suicide attempts, breakdowns, panic attacks, and of some pupils just giving up altogether. The new exams seem designed to find out what young people CAN’T do, not what they CAN.  

One student, Charlotte, told us: “The government has created a hostile environment for us. It’s setting us up to fail, instead of building our confidence for the future.”

After hearing so many concerns we conducted our own survey, and the vast majority of parents and teachers who responded said they think the new exams are less fair. One of them told us: “As a parent and teacher I have huge concerns about the inappropriateness of these exams. If you are not academic and have little family support you are at a HUGE disadvantage.”

Meanwhile, half a million eleven-year-olds took “pass or fail” SATs, with more than a third of them labelled as “below the expected standard” as a result. The tests went ahead despite the education select committee of MPs reporting last year that the “high stakes system“ in primary schools can adversely affect pupil wellbeing. The school standards minister, Nick Gibb, merely repeats that it is the responsibility of primary schools to avoid making SATs stressful for pupils.

We are a group of parents who set up Rescue Our Schools to fight the mounting problems in our education system. We cannot stand by and watch so many young lives being damaged by these exams and tests. Our children are already among the most tested in the world - yet the government is planning a new test for four-year-olds when they start school.

Please sign our petition demanding an urgent and independent inquiry into the mental health impact of the new GCSEs, SATs and the increasing emphasis on formal testing at all levels of schooling.

So far the government is ignoring the evidence that things are going badly wrong. When questioned in Parliament about the new GCSEs the education secretary, Damian Hinds, said: “To be fair, I don’t think the concept of exam stress is entirely a new one and at this time of year, obviously, there is heightened stress among some young people.”

Sorry Mr Hinds, but the mental health problems being reported because of these exams ARE entirely new. Nor will they necessarily build resilience – there is growing evidence that experiencing a period of extreme stress in childhood can lead to serious mental health problems later in life.

Private schools have been able to protect their students from the new exams, but state schools have had no choice.

Rescue Our Schools believes that, above and beyond a mental health inquiry, we need a total rethink of the exam system. Is it a fair assessment of young people’s many talents and does it prepare them for the future? Is judging schools by exam results limited and damaging? What is the point of an exam at 16 when the school leaving age is 18? Other countries are doing things differently. Why can’t we?

Please sign our petition. We need to find out just how much the wellbeing of children and young people is being harmed by the exam factories so many of our schools have become.