Homework is stressful. It’s a statement that sounds true anecdotally, but what’s the reality?

When researching my doctorate on the question: “What is the point of homework and should schools set it?” I asked students, families and teachers in six schools if homework caused stress. 

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Specifically, families and students were asked if they thought homework affected family life and family activities.

Furthermore, I asked teachers if they thought it stressed students, if their students found it difficult to complete their homework, which students found homework difficult and how this caused stress. 

Overall, students, families and teachers were in agreement that homework causes stress, however, the proportion in each group varied considerably, with 57 per cent of teachers, 84 per cent of students and 65 per cent of families stating that homework caused stress. 

High achievement, but at what cost?

This is perhaps not surprising with regards student responses, but the teacher data - at more than half - is notable.

Another interesting view from teachers was that they do not see much difference between boys and girls showing signs of homework causing stress.  

Furthermore, I found that students from the highest-achieving schools felt they received too much homework but their teachers stated that the majority of their students either always or usually completed their homework.    

I also found that more students and teachers at these higher-achieving schools said that homework caused stress compared with the other schools.  

So homework is causing the most stress at high-attaining schools. That may be because they are putting more pressure on their students to achieve and maintain grades and, therefore, the students felt stressed over homework.

Either way, it would be worth these schools considering the balance between getting those results and creating stress among the student population. 

Teacher awareness

That’s not to say teachers are not aware of this issue. Teachers in the study stated they realised that homework caused stress but still set it and students reported that they were stressed as a result.  

You would think this should lead to teachers being instructed to set more appropriate homework and reduce that stress in the first instance. That does not usually happen. 

Instead, 65 per cent of teachers said they made allowances for those students who were having difficulties, such as extra time, support in school or additional resources.

Where school policies may dictate homework, clearly some teachers are doing their best to minimise the stress that causes. 

Finnish your homework

There may be some who will say to all this, “we have to set homework, we always have and it’s what helps pupils succeed academically”.

Perhaps, but according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (2018), Finnish pupils are reaching a higher level of academic achievement than other pupils in the UK and yet they have a lighter homework load, spending less than three hours each week completing homework compared with the UK’s almost five hours each week.

In his book, Finnish Lessons, Pasi Sahlberg (2015) explains that some educators in Finland do not believe that homework supports better learning. 

He also says that students in Finnish schools do not feel as anxious and under pressure at school because of their workload as those students in countries where homework is given. 

“A relaxed culture of learning and a lack of stress and anxiety certainly play a role in the achievement of good overall results in Finnish schools,” Sahlberg says in his book. 

Perhaps there is something in this that UK schools should consider to avoid the ongoing stress homework causes.

Dr Wendy Edwards is a retired university lecturer in teacher education. She tweets @wendyedwards1