Exam Stress

Exam Stress

In the lead up to exams, you may notice your stress levels increase.

Exam stress can start when you feel you can’t cope with revision, or feel pressure from your school or family. You might worry you’re going to fail or you won’t get the grades you need but we’ve got advice on coping with this.

It can seem daunting to talk about stress or anxiety. You might feel like nobody else is feeling this way.

But bottling up stress and trying to deal with it on your own can often make the stress worse.

When we feel anxious, we often give ourselves negative messages like: ‘I can’t do this’, ‘I’m useless’ and ‘I’m going to fail’. It can be difficult but try to replace these with positive thoughts such as: ‘this is just anxiety, it can’t harm me’ and, ‘relax, concentrate – it’s going to be okay’.

You might have been predicted certain grades or put into a higher set, and feel if you don’t get the grade you’ll let your teachers or parents down.

Remember, exams are important – but they’re not the only way to a successful future. Lots of people achieve success in life without doing well in school exams.

If the stress gets to a point where it is overwhelming and is affecting your day-to-day life, try and speak to someone about it. Your school should have a service where you can speak to people about your concerns and will be able to offer more advice on how to manage it. If that seems like too big a step, open up to a family member or a friend about the pressure you feel.

You’ll be amazed to know that you aren’t alone in feeling like this.

Student Minds have published 5 tips to beating exam stress:

1. Keep it in perspective