It is now more than a decade since the current system of unregulated transfer tests was brought in to select children for grammar school places in Northern Ireland.
It is a process thousands of youngsters go through each year, some sitting as many as five exams to maximise their chances of getting into a particular school.
There is plenty of anecdotal evidence as well as research about the impact of academic selection on children, some as young as ten when they sit the exams.
Many parents and teachers will recognise the signs of stress, the damage to self-esteem and the fear of being labelled a failure that can have a profound effect on young people.
A new report will further reinforce the message that academic selection at ten or eleven is harmful to children and should be consigned to history.
Right to Education (R2E), facilitated by Participation and the Practice of Rights (PPR) surveyed more than 50 teachers and 200 pupils, including children who had taken and not taken the transfer test.
The study found that 60 per cent of young people said the test was bad for them, 66 per cent said the test did not make them confident or more able while 92 per cent of teachers felt transfer testing had a significant negative impact on children's mental health.
Children told of anxiety, depression, loss of appetite, not sleeping and not attending school 'for fear of a test'.
The report recommends that the departments of education and health develop a wellbeing checklist for all pupils engaged in transfer tests and this should be included in schools' pastoral care priorities.
It is worth noting that this research has been carried out because the Education Authority and department of education do not monitor the mental health impact of selection.
There are many parents who are unhappy that their youngsters have to undergo an exam process at such a young age but feel they have no other choice if a grammar school is their preferred option.
It was bad enough when the department oversaw the 11-plus but the unofficial tests have made the situation even worse.
This latest research makes for disturbing reading and needs to be taken seriously by those with responsibility for our children's education.
