A study involving 1,230 members of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) found that 31 per cent think pupils have developed eating disorders as a result of the stress they face.
A further 21 per cent say pupils are taking drugs to cope, while 12 per cent of the education staff report cases of attempted suicide and 44 per cent believe that young people are self-harming.
Of the teachers and support staff who responded to the survey, 65 per cent cite testing and exams as the main cause of stress for young people, while 22 per cent said pupils were worried about getting into the best schools or universities.
Half of the respondents said that social networking and the pressure to be popular had a role in the problems and a third said peer pressure was at fault too.
An over-crowded curriculum and too much homework and coursework were also acknowledged as influencing factors.
Other consequences of stress reported by the respondents included low self-esteem (73 per cent), anxiety (67 per cent), a lack of motivation (66 per cent), an inability to concentrate (62 per cent), and pupils getting excessively upset (49 per cent).
One secondary teacher from Cambridge told the ATL researchers: “These issues were still prevalent 10 years ago, but now, I think, we are better at identifying them. Sadly, there is still not enough funding to do much. Students can sometimes wait months for an initial assessment, even when suicidal.”
Speaking ahead of her union’s fringe meeting on pupil wellbeing at the Labour Party Conference on Monday (September 28), Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the ATL, said: “It is shocking that so many young people are under so much stress that they self-harm. It is also alarming that much of the pressure and stress is caused by the education system and this needs to be a wake-up call to policy-makers.
“Our children are among the most unhappy with their school life in the world, and are also among the most tested in the world. Teachers do their best to support and protect children and young people from the pressures of schools, which are becoming unhealthily competitive, but with brutal cuts to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services support is no longer available to children and young people coping with mental health issues.
“We need to listen more carefully to young people and to provide an education system which inculcates a life-long joy of learning, rather than an exam treadmill. The current system of testing and re-testing is unrelenting and is inflicting enormous damage on our young people’s mental health.”