# Reception kids cried at a touchscreen test

> Every single four-year-old watched in a two-year study showed stress during England's digital baseline test.
- Title: Reception kids cried at a touchscreen test · MadeForMums
- Summary: Every single four-year-old watched in a two-year study showed stress during England's digital baseline test. When the screen gets in the way, a test of maths…
- Keywords: education, early years, screen time, testing, child development, Reception, kids, cried, touchscreen, test, MadeForMums
- Source: MadeForMums — https://madeformums.com/news/family-news/four-year-olds-showed-signs-of-distress-during-touchscreen-school-test-study-finds
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: education, early years, screen time, testing, child development
## Every child showed strain
Researchers watched 22 four-year-olds take England's Reception Baseline Assessment on a touchscreen. All 22 showed some sign of discomfort or distress.
## What the test is
The RBA is a statutory check of maths, literacy, communication and language, taken in a child's first six weeks of school. The digital version landed in 2025.
## Filmed and analysed
Teams from Leeds Beckett and UCL video-recorded children across four classrooms in 2024 and 2025, then studied their gestures, posture, movement and speech.
## Finger-sucking and gripping chairs
Observed behaviours included rocking, stiff posture, turning away from the screen and asking the teacher for reassurance again and again. One boy cried mid-question.

> I don't know how!
## The diagonal drag problem
In a story-sequencing task, only 6 of 17 children managed the diagonal drag-and-drop. Several could explain the beginning, middle and end out loud but lost it on the screen.
## Testing swipes, not knowledge
If the finger movement defeats the child, the score reflects touchscreen familiarity rather than understanding. Marks go missing for the wrong reason.

> It's producing results that reflect a child's familiarity with a touchscreen rather than what they actually know.
## Teachers stuck to a script
Administrators must follow fixed wording and cannot deviate, so no one could calm an upset child or show them how the screen worked. Researchers say co-engaging would have helped.
## Guidance pulling both ways
The DfE tells early years settings to limit and carefully plan screen use, while requiring 20 minutes of screen-based assessment. SafeScreens wants the digital RBA paused.

> Government guidance on screen use must be coherent.
## Key takeaway

When the screen gets in the way, a test of maths and literacy quietly becomes a test of swiping.