This National Centre for Social Research report found that children experiencing poor mental health are three times more likely not to pass five GCSEs including maths and English compared to their peers. The NatCen report also provides new analysis showing the impacts of the COVID–19 pandemic on the public’s financial and mental health.
The report warns that pupils are facing a double hit to their educational prospects as the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted their learning and affected their mental health. The study found an independent association between mental difficulties in adolescence and educational attainment at age 16.
It also discovered that mental health problems adversely affected boys’ educational attainment more than girls’. Hyperactivity disorder strongly predicted lower grades for both sexes.
Even when background factors known to affect mental health and grades were controlled for – such as poverty, child-parent relationships and parental engagement with schoolwork – children who experienced mental health difficulties were still twice as likely to not reach the benchmark of five GCSE grades A*-C (or 9-4) including maths and English.
Researchers analysed responses from 1,100 children aged 11-14 from the Understanding Society study and subsequently used the National Pupil Database for England to link this information to their exam results at age 16.