Exam stress. A word many people have heard. Everyone feels stressed and anxious during exams and it’s a normal thing to go through. What is exam stress? It usually is defined individually and how much pressure one feels. It mainly starts during the revision period before exams. Exams stress let’s us work that extra bit harder but it also helps us achieve the grades we need in order to succeed. This is stress helps us. Then there is stress that makes us feel bad and we start to lose concentration in our work. This stress can make us lose the ability to work to our full potential, even though we don’t intend to. Exam stress doesn’t just go by studying for a solid 8 hours. There are many ways to ease and cut down the amount of stress you have.
Revising- long hours, so much information that enters the brain but is sometimes forgotten easily. But by creating an organised feeling, it will relieve some of your stress, even if it’s just a tiny bit. Break down revision into small chunks and form a plan. When you have a plan you know exactly what you’ll be doing throughout the day. Schedule plenty of free time to unwind and allow you to be free from the hard work you have done. It’s humanly possible to work the whole day, your brain can’t handle that! It’s okay to have some free time to help with both your physical and mental wellbeing. Don’t panic if you go off schedule- tomorrow is another day. Remember that exam stress is completely mundane, it’s how you cope with it that makes life a whole lot easier. ‘Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going!’
Recently in our school we had our VIMAs (sixth form milestone assessment). Starting A level is hard. They say that the jump between GCSE and A level is really difficult, however personally I didn’t feel it. Unfortunately that didn’t last long as exams came round the corner and my whole view on A level changed. The content I seemed to understand did not show on my exams and I started to feel the pressure of A levels. I went through some exam stress which I felt was completely normal seeing as I had done my GCSEs which were stressful too. In A levels I’ve learnt to cope with my stress by giving myself time to reflect and change my ways on how I revise. I didn’t let my grades affect me. Yes starting new things is hard but everyone eventually gets used to it and you’ll look back and not know why you were worried the entire time. Having a good mind-set will always get you places and remember, grades don’t define intelligence or what kind of person you are, it’s about how you tackle problems and try to the best of your abilities.
