The Exam Stress Campaign is held during January and May each year to help students find sources of help and support during this difficult time of year. The brief for all content produced was to make it relevant to all students taking exams, regardless of subject or level of study. Key areas to focus on included mental health awareness, revision and exam preparation, as well as a breakdown of tips and advice at various stages of the exam season. It was essential that the tone was neutral and friendly. 

All content originally published on https://www.cusu.org/opportunities/campaigns/exam-stress/

LEAD COPY: Watch out for stress this exam season

We all know how stressful exam season can be. With revision piling on, dates getting closer, and often coursework deadlines thrown into the mix, it’s no wonder that people can struggle to cope. Even with the best level of techniques and strategies, dedication, and organisations, it can all sometimes get too much. It’s important to recognise when you’re starting to reach peak level and know when it’s time to get some help.

Signs to watch out for:

  • Feeling overwhelmed. This is normal for most people facing exams and deadlines, but feeling so overwhelmed you don’t know where to start, feeling lost, and frustrated, is one of the first signs of building stress levels.
  • Not studying effectively. You might be pulling all-nighters in the library in an attempt to get that revision down, but when it comes to the next day, can you remember any of it?
  • Getting upset at small things. If you find yourself crying because no one washed the cups up, or becoming furious because someone moved your highlighter, this is a classic sign of being over worked and over stressed.
  • Losing weight (or gaining weight). Stress does funny things to us. Some people lose all appetite and replace it with endless worry. Others eat their way through it. If you find yourself losing or gaining weight, it can be a sign that you’re working too hard.
  • Sleeping too much or not enough. Often, when you’re stressed, tiredness is what gets you the most. Tired of studying, tired of reading, tired of waiting for the exam to be over with. You might find yourself lying awake worrying, or sleeping most of the day away and still feeling exhausted.
  • Procrastinating. While procrastination might seem like the opposite of being stressed, this is often a case of finding anything and everything to distract you from the work that’s causing the stress.

Often, stress can be managed effectively with some solid coping techniques and making effective use of study time and study breaks. However, there are a number of sources you can use to get help for stress levels.

  • The GP. Your doctor might not be an expert in the subject you’re studying, but they are there to make sure you stay well and healthy. If stress is really getting to you, they’ll be happy to provide you with some help and advice, and medication if it’s needed.
  • Counselling. CUSU offers a counselling service in our Health and Wellbeing centre. Here you can book in to speak to one of our dedicated counsellors. If you just need someone to talk to, or want to try and structure out some techniques and practical advice, they can help.
  • Samaritans. The Samaritans often get labelled as a help service for those feeling suicidal. But they’re actually just a confidential service you can call and talk to, 24 hours a day. Sometimes just talking to someone and setting out the problems in front of you can really help with perspective to get you back on track.
  • Big White Wall. This is a student mental health website where you can get advice and chat to other students going through the same thing. All you need is your university email to sign up.

We hope you’re all handling the exam season well, and good luck with all the exams and deadlines! You can do it!

 

ARTICLE: Keeping Calm on the Day

Everyone gets jitters waiting outside the exam hall. In fact, this can be the time when you’ll feel most nervous about what’s about to happen. But keeping calm here means you can be collected and ready to face the exam with a clear mind.
  • Avoid large groups. You’ll often find that even if you aren’t nervous, standing in a group of other nervous people means that it rubs off on you. Stay with either a few close friends or by yourself to avoid catching nerves, or making them worse than you already feel.
  • Breathe. Sounds like the simplest piece of advice but it really is key if you’re feeling very nervous and anxious about the upcoming exam. Breathe slowly and deeply, focusing on the breaths in and out to help calm down. A great trick is 7/11 breathing – breathe in for the count of 7, and out for the count of 11.
  • Prepare yourself. This goes beyond revision. Spend time getting together all the things you need for the exam rather than having to scramble last minute. Pens, pencils, calculators – whatever you need, have it all ready and to hand.
  • Eat beforehand. This doesn’t mean stuffing yourself until you feel sick, but eating a decent meal beforehand means you won’t be distracted by hunger pangs and a growling stomach in the exam! If you get too nervous to eat, try and nibble on something small to keep you going.
  • Wear a spinner ring. Spinner rings are great for people who fidget and fiddle when they are nervous. It’s a ring with a moving part that you can ‘spin’ around your finger. Focusing on the spinning through counting and breathing can really help manage their nerves before and during the exam.

 

 

ARTICLE: Preparation and Management

Everyone knows the old saying from school ‘Fail to Prepare, Prepare to Fail’. We aren’t looking to be as ominous as this, but getting ready for an exam is important. Below, we’ve compiled a series of tips in how to effectively manage your time and revision strategies to help you remember everything you need!

  • Time management. Often you’ll be trying to juggle coursework deadlines, lectures, outside commitments, and a social life in amongst all this! But you can manage it with a little bit of organisation. A timetable can really help in the busiest of cases, but even just allocating certain days or times of day to specific things can be useful. For example, Mondays could be coursework, Tuesdays for revision, and so on and so forth.
  • Organise your notes. To revise effectively, you need to have all your notes together. If they’re scattered throughout multiple documents or notebooks, start bringing them together in a way that means you can access everything easily. Create your very own revision pack with what works for you –colour coding and using document dividers in folders are good starts.
  • Don’t cram! Some people swear that last minute cramming is what works best for them, but even if this is how you work, starting early isn’t going to hurt – and it might make cramming that little bit easier for you.
  • Take breaks. This sounds counterintuitive but having enough downtime to relax and unwind is key to making sure you can work efficiently and properly. Schedule breaks during revision and take a day or a few evenings a week to give yourself a proper break and some rest. Exercise makes an excellent use of a break too; it gets you away from the desk and out of the academic mind-set.

 

The library is a great place to revise day or night, it’s currently open 24 hours, 7 days a week. So you’ll always be able to find a quiet place to study.