Tips and Ideas for Surviving the Exam Season

A blog post 5th April 2018

If you have teenagers or anyone studying for upcoming exams, then read on….

I spend lots of my time working with young people helping them cope with stress and anxiety, and at this time of year a lot of this is related to exam stress. I run a programme in schools Be Your Own Best Study Buddy where we work through all the things that get in the way of us being at our best at exam time – not eating well, lack of sleep, feeling unmotivated or overwhelmed, stressing out about failing, distractions and leaving things til last minute, exam panic.

So I wanted to share with you the resources I use in this programme that help young people feel more organised, in control, less stressed and able to take care of themselves at this busy time.

Planning and Organising

If you’ve got a teen doing their GCSE’s or A levels and they haven’t started their revision yet, now is a good time for them to start making a revision plan. Being a last minute person myself and thriving on a bit of pressure I can understand the ones who are being very laid back about it all at the moment, but when they go back to school after Easter the pressure will be on. They will have had their exam timetable by now so will know when their first exam is (usually middle of May). So here is a simple revision timetable template they can start using with some instructions about how to turn their subjects into topics, and how to prioritise the important stuff first.

Revising in a way that works for them

They might be freaking out about ‘HOW’ to revise and be bombarded by all the different ways their friends are doing it, or be making lots and lots of notes and feel like nothing is going in, or just not know where to start. We all have different ways of learning stuff and remembering information to have a look at this memory styles sheet with them and see which one they relate to mostly, try it for yourself too. It may be that they identify strongly with one or be a mix of them all. It doesn’t matter, it’s just about coming up with ways to revise that makes sense to them and stop worrying about what everyone else is doing.
Also good to think about what’s the best conditions for them to study best? What time of day are they at their best? Do they like it quiet or have music on? How often do they need brakes? What’s their biggest distractions????
The Easter holidays is a good time to experiment with this all this to see what works best for them.

Looking after their mind, body and soul at exam time

This is the most important part in my opinion. The stuff I’ve talked about so far can’t happen if their health and happiness is not in a good place. We can’t give ourselves the best shot at anything if we’re stressed, tired, hungry, bored or unhappy. So I look at 4 areas with them – Food, exercise, relaxation and fun. Getting a balance of it all is the key. Here are some tips and ideas about how you can help your child be at their best not just at exam time, but all of the time. And as I always say – ‘the advice we give to our kids is the advice we need to give ourselves too’……

Hope all this is helpful. Find the bits that work for them and support them to find their own way through the exam season.
Any questions, drop me an email.

Good luck