Feeling stressed over your exams? Here are our tips to help beat the worries...

Don’t avoid revision

Ok, this is an obvious one. Of course everyone is going to tell you to revise, however, we understand that not everyone is the best at it. Our advice is to just give it a go rather than not at all because doing even the smallest thing will help you feel more prepared than doing nothing at all. It’s never a nice feeling sitting down for a paper and having no idea.

Look after yourself! 

Again, this should go without saying but if you're revising morning to night with no breaks and no time for yourself, you could just burn out and then all the hard work you’ve put in will be for nothing. Take plenty of breaks, know when to call it a day and make sure to make time for things you enjoy. Self-care is key to productivity, so whether that’s having a pamper session or just having a day off to do whatever you want – that could be key to reducing stress and helping you on your way to exam success.

Missing those study sessions at the library? 

Recreate those over zoom and have fun while you and your classmates help each other out.

Sleep, eat and drink! 

Make sure you’re doing enough of each! Think of it as a triangle for winning your exam season, if you’re lacking one, two or even all three, you’re not going to be at your best.

Prioritise and manage your time

If you have a few exams to prepare for, it might be a good idea to make a schedule and decide how much time is spent per exam. Whilst it might seem to make sense to go full throttle into revision for your first exam, you don’t want to leave all the prep for your others until last minute.

Try podcasts and videos

If you struggle with the usual kinds of revision, you might be inclined to learn better through auditory or visual methods. Finding one of these relevant to your studies can be a great way to help retain information, and what’s great about ones you can listen to is that you can have them running while you do other tasks, helping squeeze that extra bit of studying in.

Use the resources on offer

Remember, the library is your friend. You could also look for past papers and quizzes for practice and as well as this, there are apps that can help with studying and stress relief (look into apps like ‘Headspace’ for helping to reduce stress).

There are obvious things to consider like starting earlier than you think you should, switching your phone off if you're easily distracted etc but ultimately, the big thing is to just do your best and leave that exam hall knowing you’ve done what you can and be proud of yourself. It’ll be worth it.

If you need friendly advice of any kind, our advice and wellbeing team are here for you. Click here for more info.