Exam Stress

The run-up to exams can cause a lot of stress for young people, so it's important for primary and secondary schools to help show pupils they always have someone to turn to for support. Most people will have heard of Childline but not many will realise that they can help with exam stress, even if you just need somneone to talk to.

A recent ChildLine poll showed that children often don’t know how to talk to their parents and other adults about their personal problems. Over half (54%) of the 1024 children surveyed said they would feel too embarrassed to talk to an adult about a private or personal problem. Forty-nine per cent said they would not be able to find the right words

Figures for calls to ChildLine (2007-2008) show that just over 175,000 children were counselled by ChildLine in that year. Of these, around 480 mentioned exam stress during their call

The ChildLine website provides more advice about typical problems young people worry about and information on what would happen if they get in touch with ChildLine. www.childline.org.uk will now be a site solely for children and young people to access help, advice and information about the helpline.

Exam stress tip box

Dos

• Have your own revision timetable and start planning well before exams begin. Your teacher should be able to help with this.
• Make your books, notes and essays user-friendly by using headings, highlighting and revision cards. You can also get tips on other revision techniques from teachers and friends with experience of exams and you could buy revision guides if needed. 
• Take notes of the important points when revising. Try to answer the questions of past exam papers, explain answers to tricky questions to someone else to help you get your head round them.
• Find out what routine suits you best as everyone revises differently. This could be alone or with a friend or parent/carer; early morning or late at night; short, sharp bursts or longer sessions; with music or without noise. 
• Ask for help from your teacher/learning mentor, parent/carer or a friend if there are things you don't understand.

Don'ts

• Don't leave revision to the last minute.
• Don't avoid revising subjects you don't like or find difficult. 
• Don't forget that there is life beyond revision and exams. 
• Don't cram all night before an exam – you'll be really tired in the morning and a good night’s sleep is important.

On the day of the exam

• Have a good breakfast if you can.
• Make sure you know where the exam is being held and what time it starts, and give yourself plenty of time to get there. 
• Take all the equipment you need for each exam, including extra pens and pencils. 
• Take in a bottle of water and tissues. 
• Go to the loo beforehand! 
• If you feel really anxious, breathe slowly and deeply while waiting for the exam to start. 
• Read the instructions before starting the exam. 
• Ask the teacher or exam supervisor if anything is unclear. 
• Read through all the questions before starting writing, and make sure you are clear how many questions you are required to answer. 
• If there is a choice, start by answering the question you feel you can answer best. 
• If you are stuck on a question, go on to the next. You can always come back to it later. If you are really stuck, try to have an intelligent guess anyway. 
• Leave time to read through and check your answers before the exam finishes. 
• Plan how much time you'll need for each question.

For more confidential advice and support, call Childline on 0800 11 11