09/05/2016 Newsround

With Sats coming up, we take a look at whether tests

First, how do you feel when you have exams coming up?

Confident, worried or a bit stressed?

Hundreds of thousands of pupils in England will take

Standard Assessment Tests, or SATs this week.

In a survey for Newsround 87% of 10 and 11 year olds questioned said

they feel pressure to do well in school tests.

Hayley's being speaking to children in Manchester

So, how are you feeling about your tests coming up soon?

up or get a bad mark. because I don't want to mess

I feel ready, there are some things I need to go over like fractions.

Preparing for any test can be a stressful time and it's

going to be a really busy week for hundreds of thousands of ten

and eleven years olds who start their week of SATs today.

The tests in England keep track of how primary school

They can also affect which class students go

into when they move up to high school.

Every single one of those is correct...

The lessons taught in schools and the way children are tested

Some people say it means the tests for Years 2 and 6 are now too hard

but the government says tougher tests will mean better

Scotland got rid of tests but plans to bring them back.

Hundreds of children answered questions in a survey for Newsround

More than half said say they feel "some pressure" to do well,

while over a quarter said they feel "a lot of pressure" .

Many said they feel nervous before tests while others said

And they told us the pressure can make them sad and moody and can

But nearly half of children questioned said they didn't mind

taking the tests, and some even said they enjoyed them.

Last Tuesday meant a day out of school for some children -

their parents kept them off in protest at the way

Thousands of people signed a petition telling the Government

the tests put children under too much pressure.

The government says that tests are important and should not be

If there were other children feeling stressed and worried like you guys,

what advice would you give them? Keep calm and just try to keep your

mind off it until it comes. I don't think you can do any better

than your hardest. Even if your best is not as good

as your friend's best you can't do any better than that

you just have to try. Test time can be worrying,

but there's loads you can do to stop Here are some of CBBC's famous

faces to tell us how When I was at school, I used to work

really really hard, and I think before exams that used to make me

nervous. I was so desperate to get everything onto the page. But it is

normal to have butterflies in your tummy before an exam. Before my

exams at school, I used to get quite nervous, but I used to stay behind

school some days to speak to one of my teachers, with whatever subject I

was struggling with. We used to work one on one to get me through that

subject. I used bullet points and key phrases that I would stick in my

exercise work that would stand out to me and help me remember specific

things regarding the subject. The main thing I did was once in the

exam, I tried to forget about all of the preparation leading up to it.

Take a moment and breeds! It sounds like

silly thing, but honestly, taking deep breaths is everything.

Count-outs for four in, count-outs for four as you go out. At the end

of the day, it is just an exam and as long as you try your best and get

everything onto the page, that is all you can do. Give it a go at!

Have faith in yourself, keep calm and do your best.

For more advice head to Newsround online where Hayley has more

That's all from me, Newsround's back right here in about half an hour.