One of the many great things about working with young people is that they’ll tell it exactly as it is, if you ask them. If your lesson is boring them, be in no doubt that they’ll find a way of letting you know (an eye roll can speak more than a thousand words). If they love your lessons, you’ll know about it. If you’ve over-complicated, under-emphasised, glossed over or misrepresented a topic or skill, they’ll tell you straight. Whilst we may not always want to hear it, I truly value my students’ honesty, their integrity, their way of coming at an issue from an angle I might never have considered.

I’m currently writing a book for students and their parents. It will offer practical strategies on how not just to survive but to thrive at school. And it represents a growing number of voices of 11- to 18-year-olds at school in the UK. At the time of writing this piece, we have 437 student responses and 621 responses from parents. My aim is this will be a wide-ranging and significant contribution to UK-wide research around student and parent voice.

Before I get to the main theme of this piece, a few important points. Lots of my responses have been from students who have just finished exams, because I’ve targeted them in particular. Exams are a rite of passage and are not supposed to be easy. They’re an exercise in resilience and personal growth. One of their functions is arguably to test young people’s mettle, as well as their skills and subject knowledge. Many of the young people who’ve responded (including the ones cited below) have done so with humour and positivity. Many more state that they are "fine" and sound cheery and appear to be coping well.

In the light of sweeping changes to the education system, as teachers, many of us have rallied ourselves to control what we can – conditions in our own schools and classrooms, our relationships with students, the quality of teaching – and stop worrying about what we can’t control – the decisions made by the powers that be that have led to these huge changes in how we assess students. This has been necessary, not just for our own sanity, but to protect students from our stress because, as I’ve written before, it’s really not their problem.

Twenty-one years in secondary classrooms have rendered me fairly unshockable. But a line from a student response to my survey yesterday gave me a huge jolt. In response to the final, "Anything you wish to add?" question of my survey, a student had written this:

"Please help us. The system is destroying me."

"What’s your why?" I was asked in a recent podcast for PivotalEd. A great question for all of us. Well, it's everything I’ve said above, but also to do my bit to get young people’s distress out there and to mitigate the disastrous impact of the new examinations on some of our young people.

Exam pressures

I’ve dug a little further into the research and started to map out the context of this generation of young people. Trump. Brexit. Knife and gun violence. Lack of engagement with – or from – politicians. Grenfell. And at school? A teacher crisis, depriving them of many of the adult role models, support teachers, experienced teachers, happy and motivated teachers that they so desperately need just now. And an average of around 20 exams each at the age of 16. It would be enough to tip many adults I know over the edge.

When asked to select from a list of adjectives to describe themselves (including "sporty", "ambitious" and "creative"), 48 per cent of the respondents described themselves as "anxious" and the same percentage as "sensitive".

Barriers to success include an array of private challenges faced by young people, including family break-ups, siblings with severe disabilities, carer duties and the mental illness of loved ones.

Some 38 per cent of young people who have responded so far report that they either "never" or "occasionally" spend time outdoors; 54 per cent that they "never" or "occasionally" have honest conversations about school at home and 47 per cent that they "never" or "occasionally" have meals as a family.

At school, 22 per cent "disagree" or "strongly disagree" with the statement "I enjoy school". Whilst 87 per cent "agree" or "strongly agree" with the statement "education is important to me", financial worries are most often cited in students’ anxieties about the future and 72 per cent "agree" or "strongly agree" with the statement: "I’d like to start earning money as soon as I can." Some 64 per cent "worry that they will let [their] family down" if they don’t do well at school.

When asked in an open question to describe factors preventing them from doing as well as they can, 51 students specify either anxiety, stress, depression or mental health problems.

It would be reassuring to imagine that the young woman quoted above is an isolated case. Sadly, she is not. I end this piece by handing over to some of the young people who have responded so far. These are their words:

"The stress implemented on students is incredibly unfair and hard. Teenagers have forgotten about having fun and being a person. I'd rather have three Us and be an honest, kind, funny, respected, sociable person than be a three A* student that isn't kind or sociable. At the end of my life and yours, you will be remembered for who you are, your personality and characteristics, not your grades you once got in school. I really dislike the education system and it needs to change." 

"This country’s children are not OK. We need help."

"Please make sure this book goes far and wide so people can know how much this system is killing us."

"The education system is just out to make us fail. The work is too much and the exams do not feel relevant to what we have learned"

"The new exam series has just destroyed the mental health of my year. It was usual to see a Year 11 crying in the corridor."

"Everyone is smart in their own way and like Einstein said: 'If we judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will go its whole life thinking it’s stupid'."

In answer to the question about why I write as well as teach, I hope this answers it. Young people need a voice. It is both a privilege and a daunting responsibility to provide them with one and I hope we’ll be able to come together to make their experiences of education more positive.

I continue to welcome survey responses. Please share this far and wide. Students can complete the survey here and parents can here.

Emma Kell is a secondary teacher in north-east London and author of How to Survive in Teaching