This week a study found that children with maths anxiety are experiencing feelings of rage and despair when faced with sums

According to Cambridge University researchers, this emotional response to the subject causes emotional suffering and behavioural problems among pupils.

The study of nearly 2,000 British and 1,000 Italian school children found that a general feeling that maths was more difficult than other subjects strongly contributed to this anxiety.

The students surveyed also often discussed the role that their teachers and parents played in their development of maths anxiety.

Below are a selection of questions from a UK Key Stage Two national curriculum maths exam, typically taken at age 11.