Exam season can be stressful, overwhelming and tiring. It is likely that you are putting pressure on yourself because you want to achieve high grades and have specific requirements to meet for university. To reduce exam anxiety, think about how you are going to revise, structure your revision timetable and make time to look after yourself in advance.

In order to avoid unnecessary stress around exam season it is important that you prepare for it appropriately. There are a few things that you can do to help your future self:

Firstly, stay on top of content, make sure you understand it as it is taught and make it a priority to ask a teacher or tutor to explain topics you find difficult. After each lesson or topic, make your revision resources using the specification, lesson notes and additional resources such as textbooks and youtube videos. Some useful resources you could make include flashcards, summary sheets, mind maps or your own practice questions. Doing small reviews of lessons or topics as the content is delivered makes it much more manageable when you come to revise for mocks or final exams.It is also beneficial to keep on top of homework as a tool to check your understanding and become familiar with exam questions and testing yourself. I would also recommend taking end of block tests and mock exams seriously even if they don’t count towards predicted grades. Not only will this prepare you for the final exams by highlighting your strengths and weaknesses but it will also be beneficial for you to develop your exam and study methods.

If you don’t do as well as you were expecting in the test it is important to reflect on why this was. Ask yourself the following questions. Did you understand the topic? Did you give yourself enough time to prepare? Were your study methods effective e.g. did you use active recall and spaced repetition? Asking yourself these questions is only possible if you take practice tests seriously. Reflection is a valuable tool to allow you to refine your exam and study techniques and be in the best position to walk into the exam with confidence and achieve the grades you are capable of.

Part of reducing stress is making sure you feel prepared and happy with the amount of work you have done. This means you need to give yourself plenty of time and think about how you want to plan your revision in advance. Make sure you start with areas of weakness so you have more time to go over them. When managing your revision it is important to allocate the last few weeks for practice papers and looking at mark schemes. Some students prefer to make a list of topics to cover each day, others use a retrospective revision timetable and make a note of the topics they cover as they go which allows them to be more adaptable.

It is also important to look after yourself during exam season to avoid burnout. Schedule your days with focused time for both work and rest. Using an app such as forest or flora can help with time management and focus. It is also important to be realistic with what you can achieve each day. One method you could use to make sure that you prioritise both work and rest in your revision timetable is by splitting the day up into time blocks. It can be useful to identify when in the day you work best. Split the day into 3 sections: the morning, evening and afternoon. Use the session that you work least effectively in to take time for yourself to see friends, family and rest. Prioritising healthy habits such as exercise, good nutrition and healthy sleep patterns are also crucial to help you to learn, retain information and protect your health.