Half of young people have so many emotional problems they cannot focus at school, a study has found.

Some 48 per cent of youngsters said that they experienced problems during their school years that prevented them from concentrating on their academic work.

Of these, 46 per cent did not talk to anyone about their problems, mainly because they did not want other people to know that they were struggling.

More than half (58 per cent) did not think that asking for help would solve the problem.

The latest report from the Youth Index, which gauges how students feel about a range of topics from home life to health, showed that mental health is at its lowest level since the Index was first commissioned.