Pupils in Wales ‘not as happy as their peers across the world’
WELSH school pupils are less happy with their lives and more likely to experience bullying than those in many other nations, including the US, Germany and Latvia, an international report has found.
Students in Wales, and the rest of the UK, were also much more likely to face exam anxiety, according to the latest report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The study – based on the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) tests, which are taken by 15-year-olds around the world, shows that the UK is lagging behind internationally in terms of young people’s social and emotional lives.
The study puts the UK 38th out of 48 countries in terms of youngsters’ life satisfaction.
In terms of life satisfaction, the figures for Wales are slightly above the UK average but still below the average for industrialised nations
It found that, on a scale of one to 10, British pupils had an average satisfaction of 6.98, compared with the OECD average of 7.31. The figure for Wales is 7.13.
This puts Wales behind nations such as France (7.63), Germany (7.35), Spain (7.42) Latvia (7.37) and the US (7.36), but ahead of others such as Japan (6.80) Turkey (6.12) and Korea (6.36). Among those with the highest ratings were Mexico (8.27) and Finland (7.89).
Perhaps more worryingly, students in Wales were highly likely to report experiencing incidents of bullying.
Nearly a quarter of students in Wales, 24.6%, said that they had experienced an act of bullying “at least a few times a month”.
This figure is 5% higher than average, according to the research.
Around 540,000 students took part in the latest Pisa tests, representing around 29 million 15-year-olds in 72 participating countries and economies.
Where bullying was rife, performance was affected, as schools in which more than one-tenth of pupils fell victim to it scored an average of 38 points lower on science than schools with the lowest episodes, the study found. Anxiety was also found to be permeating the British classroom, where 72% of students reported worrying about tests even if they were well-prepared, compared with 55% on average.
Just over half (52%) also said they became very tense during their studies, above the 37% international mean. But the reported lack of happiness teenagers have in British schools is offset by their high ambitions, the report found.
The vast majority of pupils (90%) claimed they wanted to be the best in their every endeavour, dwarfing the 65% international average.
Similarly, 76% said they wanted to be the best in their class, outstripping the 59% average.
Confidence appeared to spell better results – as students in the top quarter of the report’s motivation index achieved an average of 29 points higher in science than those in the bottom quarter.
UK teenagers also have a high level of support from their parents, with 93% saying that their mothers and fathers encourage them to be confident, and 84% saying their parents are interested in what they do at school.
This report follows two volumes of Pisa results for 2015, released last December.
They found the UK’s teenagers are continuing to lag behind their peers in countries such as Singapore, Japan and tiny European nations when it comes to science, maths and reading.
Of the four home nations, Wales’ schools system is consistently ranked the worst.
The findings also show that nearly a quarter of UK students (24%) say that on a typical weekday they use the internet for more than six hours a day, higher than the OECD average of 16%.
Youngsters who spend more than six hours online are less satisfied with life, the study found.
Barnardo’s chief executive Javed Khan said: “These findings highlight just how vital it is for children to have someone who believes in them.
“A caring home is essential to children’s well-being and children themselves have told us that having someone to love, listen to, support and trust them is vital for them to lead happy lives.”
The report says: “Pisa 2015 does not collect data on students’ body image, but other research suggests that exposure to images of overly thin girls and young women in traditional media and to photo-sharing in new social media has a significant negative impact on adolescent girls’ satisfaction with themselves.”
An NSPCC spokesman said: “The OECD report highlights the huge bullying problem we have in the UK, with almost one in every four 15-year-olds having to endure this deeply hurtful and harmful experience.
“For over 30 years bullying has been among the top problems young people have contacted Childline about and, worryingly, an increasing amount of this behaviour is now taking place online with many victims left feeling like there is no escape from their tormentors.”