Scottish 15-year-olds are more likely than those in almost any other European country to feel pressured by school work - although their stress levels have fallen slightly in recent years and are below those experienced by students in Wales and England.

The latest Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey, run by the World Health Organisation every four years, found that when it came to the pressure 15-year-olds felt under in school, Scottish pupils were in the top 10 of 45 nations - at number six. Only students in Malta, Iceland, England, Spain and Wales were more likely to report feeling stressed.

The survey - which in 2018 gathered views from over 227,441 people in Europe and Canada aged 11, 13 and 15 - found that 74 per cent of 15-year-old girls in Scotland felt pressured by school work, and 53 per cent of boys. This placed Scottish teens well above the HBSC averages of 51 per cent and 38 per cent for 15-year-old girls and boys.  

Background: Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children: key findings

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However, the figures represent an improvement for Scotland on the 2014 HBSC statistics. These showed that 80 per cent of Scottish 15-year-old girls and 59 per cent of Scottish 15-year-old boys felt stressed by school work.

Exam pressure and student wellbeing

Students aged 15 felt least pressured by school work in Azerbaijan, followed by Greenland, Kazakhstan, Russia, Georgia and Slovakia.

The survey also revealed that Scotland had one of the largest changes in school-related pressure as students got older: only 22 per cent of girls and 27 per cent of boys felt pressured by school work at the age of 11.

HBSC also measures how supported by their teachers students feel. Overall, 38 per cent of Scottish students reported high teacher support, although this varied considerably by age. The majority of 11-year-olds (61 per cent) reported high teacher support, but this dropped to 31 per cent of 13-year-olds and 23 per cent of 15-year-olds. Scotland was close to the HBSC average for all age groups.

Speaking to Tes Scotland last year when the Scottish results for 2018 were first published, Jo Inchley, who coordinates the survey in Scotland, and specialises in child and adolescent health, suggested that schools must create an environment in which mental health is talked about and where students have people who they can go to.

The HBSC survey has been conducted in Scotland since 1990. Today’s new international report can be found in full here.