Help with Student Life
Health and Wellbeing
Exam Stress
Most people get stressed about exams but this stress affects different people in different ways. Whilst the adrenalin and pressure can have a positive effect on some, others find themselves filled with anxiety. If stress gets the better of you at exam time then performance, happiness, and even your health can suffer.
If you suffer at exam time there are steps you can take that may help.
Preparation and revision
Preparation and revision will improve your ability in exams and will hopefully allow you to feel calmer before you go in. However, it is important to be sensible to your approach to revision and not over do it. Make a revision plan with appropriate time allocated to each subject so you know you can fit it all in. Set yourself regular goals, with deadlines for each subject, so you can check you are on target and do not run out of time.
Revision can be hard because it requires a lot of self-motivation and concentration - things which aren’t always easy to achieve. There are ways to try and improve your concentration and make work easier.
Minimise distractions:
- Before you sit down to revise make sure you know exactly what work you are about to do (a clear revision plan will help with this). With a clear purpose in mind your brain is less likely to be pulled in different directions.
- If you do not have to be online to do your work do not connect to the internet - it provides a world of distractions at your finger tips.
- Turn off the television, your mobile phone and anything else that might catch your attention.
Minimise boredom and sleepiness:
- Have lots of short breaks - research suggests that the brain can only concentrate for short periods of time. If you are memorising facts, or trying to digest complex information, you will not be able to do this effectively for long amounts of time. Try going for a walk when you have a break to get fresh air and wake yourself up.
- Mix up your surroundings - alternate between different rooms in your house, the library, the garden, and friends’ houses. If you stay in one place for too long you’ll start to feel stagnant and lazy.
- Try and find ways to make your work more interesting or easier to digest, such as breaking it down into small chunks, using diagrams, or revising with a friend.
Stay healthy and happy:
- Get plenty of sleep - if you are tired it will be harder to concentrate as well as absorb information.
- Exercise - it’ll keep you feeling more alert and healthy. You could even try a yoga or Thai Chi class to learn some relaxation techniques. See Student Activities to find out about the range of sports and activities you could take part in or the Give-it-a-Go taster sessions if you want to try out something new.
- Eat plenty, but keep your snacks light and healthy. Big greasy meals will slow down your body and mind.
- Limit your caffeine consumption, especially in the evening, or you will find it harder to sleep at night.
- Treat yourself - if you’ve worked hard reward yourself with some pampering.
Ask for help:
- If revision is stressing you out because you can’t get your head around a certain subject, then ask for help. Whether from a tutor, relative or classmate, there is always someone there for you. Don’t suffer alone.
The exam
Be prepared:
- Always make sure you know exactly which exams are when so you don’t end up preparing for the wrong one.
- Find out the time and location the day before and check you know where on campus the venue is.
- Make sure you have all the necessary equipment for the exam the day before (spare pens, calculators etc).
- Look at past exam papers so you know exactly what to expect. Work out how long you will have to spend on each question so you know this before you start the exam.
Be well rested and fed:
- Try to avoid last minute revision and get a good nights sleep the night before.
- Try and eat some breakfast. You may feel queasy and not be hungry but food will help your brain power and concentration.
In the exam:
- Don’t panic. If you feel panic setting in take a few minutes to breath and focus and get yourself together.
- Read the questions twice and spend five or ten minutes thinking carefully about which you are going to tackle. Work out how long you have for each and stick to this.
- If the exam consists of essays, write all your essay plans at the beginning of the exam with all the important points. Once you have these written you should feel a little calmer about completing the rest of the exam.
- If you feel you cannot answer one question put it out of your mind and tackle it at the end.
- If you run out of time and cannot finish a question, write an essay plan showing what your answer would have been to show you still know the content of the question.
After the exam:
- Forget about it and move on to the next one. Analysing your answers and comparing them to friends’ will only serve to increase the stress you are under. It may affect your performances in other exams and will leave you hating the whole exam experience even more. Once the exam is over there is nothing more you can do about it so put it out of your mind until results time.
Throughout the whole of the exam period try and keep things in perspective. Stressing about exams will not help anyone so try to keep a level head. If you do not do as well as expected it is not the end of the world and after all, you can only ever do your best.
Get help
If you are finding exam stress too much to deal with you may benefit from speaking to someone about it. Like any form of stress and anxiety, sometimes this can go beyond your control, and can be too much to deal with alone. A health professional may be able to help you.
The University of Leeds Student Counselling Centre offers a drop-in service, self-help clinic and appointments for individual counselling for students. You could also speak to your GP. See contact details below.
Mitigating circumstances
If you are finding exam time difficult to cope with due to other things going on in your life, you should tell your school about it. Your school can then take your personal circumstances into account when exams are being marked. See Mitigating Circumstances for more information.
Contacts
Leeds University Student Counselling Centre
19 Clarendon Place
Tel: 0113 343 4107
www.leeds.ac.uk/studentcounselling/
Leeds Student Medical Practice
4 Blenheim Court
Tel: 0113 295 4488
www.leeds.ac.uk/lsmp/
Useful links
http://www.mind.org.uk/Information/Booklets/How+to/How+to+cope+with+exam+stress.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/surgery/body_mind/everyone/exams_stress
http://www.childline.org.uk/pdfs/examstress.pdf
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