It's nearing the beginning of February, where most schools are beginning their mock exam season for Year 11s like me... So of course, the stress levels are off the charts. Not only are these mocks our final chance to get into those sixth forms and colleges that we want, but also our final chance to see how well (or badly!) we are doing before the wave of real exams flood us in 3 months.
Whilst we sit in lesson, the notice signs are up. '7 days till mocks!' gradually reduces to '3 days' until its the weekend before, where of course us Year 11s are cramming for our first English Literature exam. The teachers ask us: Why stress out? You're doing fine, and leave it at that. Well, I decided to endeavour to file my own research on this matter. The research question: Why do we stress for our exams?
A shocking 83% of 200 year 11s stated that they stress about mocks because they feel like they haven't revised enough (me included!), but when I probed into this further, over 53% of these students stated that they revise for over 2 hours per day, increasing to six hours on weekends. Thats a total of 57 hours per week, including school time; so why is there this stress?
100% of interviewees agreed with me when I say this; since mocks 'mimic the real exams', the stress is equal too. So for the adults who tell us that we should relax a bit, try to see it from our level. Maybe suggest to us a helpful study technique or take us outdoors so we can truly get away from the stress of our studies.
I do love studying, but the stress of exams gets into my head. So we must take measures to stop it.
By Duniya Jan, Oaks Park High School
