Research from King’s College London and UCL highlights how neurodivergent pupils often appear to cope in school while secretly suffering from burnout, anxiety, and depression, raising concerns about the focus on compliance over wellbeing.
A new study from King’s College London and University College London gives voice to a group often missed in school discussions: autistic and ADHD pupils who appear to be coping but are quietly running on empty. The research, part of the wider RE-STAR programme, is based on interviews with 22 young people aged 11 to 16 in mainstream secondary schools in the UK, including six who were both autistic and had ADHD. Many had experienced low mood, anxiety, depression or burnout linked to school, and the work was shaped by neurodivergent young adults who helped design the study, co-led interviews and took part in the analysis. The findings have not yet been peer reviewed, but they add detail to a pattern families and clinicians have long described: the child who seems fine in school may be falling apart by the time they get home.
The young people described school systems that placed compliance above wellbeing. Attendance targets, behaviour points and rigid rules were often experienced as sources of pressure rather than support, while isolation rooms and punishment-focused policies left them fearful of making mistakes. Some said rewards for perfect attendance only reinforced the sense that they would never be seen as successful, because illness, overwhelm or burnout made perfect attendance unrealistic. Others said being pushed to attend when they were already struggling made everything worse, not better. According to the researchers, the emotional strain was frequently misunderstood by staff as defiance, laziness or rudeness, even when the young person was trying to cope in the only way they could.
That gap between appearance and reality ran through the interviews. One young person said walking away was “the only way I know how to deescalate”, yet this kind of self-protection was often read as disrespect. Another said teachers assumed good grades meant all was well, when in fact academic success could hide intense distress. The research also reflects a broader concern within RE-STAR, the four-year programme led by Professor Edmund Sonuga-Barke, which is examining why autistic and ADHD young people are at greater risk of depression and how school environments may contribute to that risk. Related King’s College London studies are looking at emotion regulation in school, the daily triggers that can accumulate over time, and the school experiences that shape emotional wellbeing.
The wider evidence base points in the same direction. King’s College London says previous work with UCL and Anna Freud found that negative school experiences create about twice the emotional burden in autistic and ADHD adolescents as in neurotypical classmates, with that burden linked to depression and anxiety. The new interviews help explain what that burden feels like in practice: the pressure to mask distress, the fear of getting things wrong, and the exhaustion that builds over weeks and terms until holidays become the only time recovery feels possible. For parents and carers, the message is clear. A child’s attendance record or report card may tell only part of the story; the more important question is how much energy it takes for them to keep going.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
