One in seven pupils in the UK uses powerful illicit prescription drugs to sit GCSEs
A study has found for the first time that thousands of teenagers in the UK are risking their health by using powerful illicit prescription drugs to boost their performance in their GCSE exams .
One in seven children, aged 13 to 16, have admitted taking the drugs which are typically prescribed to people with conditions like ADHD, narcolepsy and alzheimers.
This is the first evidence of children taking them to improve performance.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the use of the drugs by GCSE pupils was “shocking” and a “dangerous trend” but highlighted the extreme anxiety and stress children faced over GCSEs that typically now involved 33 hours of exams in six weeks.
According to the research by YouGov, GCSE pupils were found to be twice as likely as A-level students or undergraduates to be taking the drugs Adderall, Ritalin and Modafinil.
The drugs, banned for use except on prescription, can be bought from online pharmacies that have sprouted up since the drugs were banned from over-the-counter sales under the Psychoactive Substances Act in 2016.
Students say they also buy them from young people who have been legitimately prescribed them, the most common of which is Ritalin.
