Does student wellbeing affect exam performance?
Apparently not, according to Education Datalab: https://ffteducationdatalab.org.uk/2022/04/is-there-is-a-link-between-year-11-pupils-wellbeing-and-their-gcse-grades/
Differences in GCSE grades are – on the whole – pretty small. Having low levels of wellbeing in Year 11 is associated with only a modest decrease in the probability of achieving a grade 4 in mathematics (75%, compared to 78% for their peers with “average” levels of wellbeing).
On the other hand, there is no evidence that those Year 11s who feel particularly joyful do any better on their GCSEs than other groups (they in fact have a slightly lower chance of achieving a grade 4 in mathematics than the “average” wellbeing group).