Over testing is making children 'miserable'

A heavy emphasis on testing and league tables has made UK pupils very unhappy, a teachers union has claimed.

The National Union of Teachers (NUT) has asserted that youngsters have to sit too many exams and that many felt under pressure to do well from a very early age, which for some children created a lack of confidence in their ability to do well at school.

The NUT also said that many children become too aware of the levels they have reached at school and will stop making an effort if they think they are "dumb".

Delegates at the NUT conference in Manchester passed a motion yesterday (Monday, March 24th) calling for the end of league table and Sats testing.

Speaking for the NUT's executive, Hazel Danson explained: "We are creating the most miserable children in Europe. I don't want to be party to that any more."

"Sats were the poison at the heart of the education system - they turn teachers into robots and they turn children off learning," delegate Netta Ford told the BBC.