Source: French to English Tester Published on: 2026-05-04
Source: The Conversation – in French– By Anna Linder, Researcher in Health Economics, Lund University
From what age should children be given grades? In Sweden, a reform shows that earlier evaluations can widen the mental health inequalities between girls and boys.
In the United Kingdom, schools increasingly rely on tests, grades, and so-called “accountability” measures based on performance. In England, inspections of theOfsted, the public body responsible for inspecting and evaluating schools, and school rankings increase the attention given to these measurable results. Similar developments have taken place in Sweden, where successive reforms have introduced earlier and more detailed evaluations.
These school environments focused on performance influence the well-being of young people. However, despite frequent reforms of evaluation systems, their psychological consequences are rarely at the heart of public debates.
Ourlatest studylinks these developments with the increase in mental health disorders among young people. It shows that earlier and more formalized assessments can increase clinically diagnosed mental disorders, particularly among girls.
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Our work focuses on aSwedish reformintroduced in 2012, which moved the start of official grading from the fourth grade (around 14 years old) to the sixth grade (around 12 years old). In other words, grades and explicit indications of relative performance now appear two years earlier than before.
To estimate the effects, we compared children born just before and just after the date of implementation of the reform. Since exposure depended strictly on the date of birth, students on either side had similar characteristics, except that some received grades earlier than others. We also accounted for certain underlying trends during this period, including the general increase in diagnoses of mental disorders over time. This type of comparison between cohorts allows isolating the specific effect of earlier grading on mental health.
Our analysis is based on linked national registries ineducationand in health, covering more than 520,000 children born between July 1992 and June 2000. We examined the psychiatric diagnoses recorded in outpatient and hospital care at the time when the students entered ninth grade (end of middle school).
Earlier periods affect girls’ mental health
The introduction of grades earlier in the school curriculum has led to an increase in diagnoses of depression and anxiety among girls, with particularly marked effects for those whose academic performance ranges from low to average. Among boys, the effects are more limited and less systematic.
Among girls, the proportion diagnosed with depression or anxiety has increased from 1.4% to 2.0%. Although this absolute increase (0.6 percentage points) may seem modest, psychiatric disorders at this age remain relatively rare. It actually corresponds to an increase of about two-fifths compared to the situation before the reform.
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Our results suggest that school pressure and social comparison are likely factors in this increase in mental health disorders. Grades make performance more visible from a younger age by clearly indicating a student’s position relative to their peers. At a time when self-identity is still being formed, this can increase sensitivity to comparison and feelings of failure.
One possible explanation lies in a greater sensitivity of girls to feedback on their performances. In someprevious work, we have shown that when girls received grades more favorable than what their measured performance would predict, their mental health improved. This suggests that they are particularly receptive to evaluations – and therefore more vulnerable when the pressure related to grading intensifies.
Wider consequences
Our results indicate that school pressure could contribute to mental health disparities between sexes during adolescence. While girls tend to internalize pressure and stress associated with evaluation more, the introduction of earlier grading could, unintentionally, exacerbate well-documented inequalities.
We do not claim that grading is intrinsically harmful. Grades can motivate, guide learning, and inform both parents and teachers. But their timing and design matter. When evaluation becomes more formal earlier in schooling, unexpected psychological costs can arise alongside academic objectives.
As grading systems evolve, issues of timing and intensity deserve particular attention. Schools are not only institutions that measure performance; they are also environments where young people build their identity. Designing educational systems that support both learning and balanced development means taking these two goals seriously.
Theeducational policiesinevitably involve trade-offs. The systems designed to measure and raise the level also shape the daily experience of students. Our results suggest that when policymakers advance the age of formal assessments, they should balance their effects on mental health with their academic benefits.
Accountability policies must take their psychological effects into account. It is not a question of abandoning grading, but of designing assessment systems adapted to the students’ stage of development, accompanied by support mechanisms that allow feedback to be interpreted constructively.
Students react differently to evaluation. Reforms that are effective for some may weaken others, particularly those already sensitive to performance pressure. Monitoring well-being alongside academic results allows for earlier detection of potential adverse effects.
Anna Linder receives funding from the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare and the Public Health Agency of Sweden.
Gawain Heckley is currently receiving funding from the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare, and the Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius Foundation.
Ulf Gerdtham receives funding from the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research.
–ref. School assessments: grading earlier, at what cost? A study highlights effects on girls’ mental health –https://theconversation.com/school-assessments-grading-earlier-at-what-cost-a-study-highlights-effects-on-girls-mental-health-281391