Exam stress and how to manage revision
Exam stress and how to manage revision
Exams can be a tricky time for all candidates. Especially the public exams like GCSE and A levels.
It is a common mis conception that being a successful exam taker boils down to intelligence. Almost all adults know passing exams has little to do with intelligence. This is often lost at school.
Whilst it is clearly important to understand, interpret and communicate exam material this is not always the reason for success in the exam arena and throughout the revision process.
Factors to help
Students must acknowledge a number of factors in order to thrive in the exam setting.
Those who are prone to anxiety and stress, perhaps more than others, may need to build and incorporate coping mechanisms into the revision and exam-taking process to ensure good grades and in turn academic progression.
Some of us know all too well the feeling when we step into that exam room; the slight loss of breath, the trembling of the hand and a general feeling of overwhelming anxiety.
So, let’s take a deeper look at how to overcome these feelings of panic and anxiety.
Firstly, let’s examine how we can optimise the revision process. This involves creating an efficient revision structure and general routine.
For most candidates it is not the subject matter that poses difficulty, instead it is overcoming key issues such as procrastination and ineffective revision, (avoidances often brought about by anxiety and stress).
If you suffer from anxiety around exam-taking and revision, the body will naturally resort to primeval nature using fight or flight. Flight in this context could be delaying studying or letting anxiety overtake during the exam. In this article I want to explore the ‘fight” element and how to address and overcome the natural worries of studying and ultimately the test itself.
So try a few of these tips:
When you feel like ignoring the books or avoiding those challenging questions, try leaning into the fear and facing your anxieties.
Embrace fear
Embrace the fear and build a structure of understanding the difficult topics, it will empower you and push you forward once you know you are capable of understanding the trickier subjects.
Screen Hygine
In order to address the anxiety itself set a routine. This is key for any underlying anxiety state. Get up and go to bed at a reasonable hour. Practice proactive screen hygiene by saving some of the reading revision for later at night.
Regular exercise
Incorporate exercise and healthy eating into your routine (and of course set time to distract the mind by seeing friends and partaking in healthy activities). Balance is key during the revision process, and reasonable study breaks have been proved to augment revision success.
Use all these skills to transfer your worries into productive and manageable revision blocks, at set times that work for you.
And if you feel these slightly obvious tips aren’t enough then I recommend trying meditation and breathing exercises. These will help for the revision process and especially for the exam itself. Physiological exercises have been scientifically proven to manage stress and pressure.
Breathing exercises
Exercise and deep breathing regulate the release and secretion of adrenaline and cortisol. It is these two hormones which can often enhance feelings of stress and triggers our fight and flight response in unproductive and unhealthy ways.
Routine Routine Routine
So, lean into the fear to confront your tough topics. Acknowledge how capable you are and implement your daily routine to maximise results on the day. And remember if the anxiety spikes during the exam you have an arsenal of skills and coping mechanisms to focus the mind, allowing you to channel your energy on what’s important – exam success!