Everyone gets stressed with exams.
What really matters is how you manage stress and what you can do to reduce it.
Here are some of our top tips:
Before your exams
- Make time for things you enjoy. Taking time to unwind, have fun and be with friends is really important if you’re going to stay calm and do your best in your exams.
- Look after your physical health. Eat well, do some exercise.
- Talk to others about how you’re feeling. Perhaps your foster carers will be the best people to talk to, but it could be friends, family, teachers, social workers or anyone else who is a good listener.
- Plan your time well. Break days up into sections and think about what you’re going to revise when, and how you can take time to relax.
- Think about where you can best revise. Ask your foster carers to provide somewhere that works for you.
- Stop comparing yourself with others. Work at your pace and don’t feel like you have to keep up with your friends.
- Turn off your social media while you’re revising.
- Agree with your foster carers that you might not always be able to keep your room as tidy as usual or help around the house as much as you usually do. Then there won’t be any disagreements about these sorts of things.
During your exams
- Make sure you’re organised and have everything you need for your exams packed the night before. Then go to bed early.
- Turn up in plenty of time.
- Eat a good breakfast and make sure you drink plenty of water to stay hydrated.
- Read the questions well and keep breathing!
- Keep remembering that your best is good enough and exams are not the be all and end all.
After your exams
- Try not to compare your answers with others – it’s a quick way to make you feel really stressed!
- Give yourself some time off to do something relaxing or fun.
- Then, think about what’s next and turn your attention to that.
If you’re feeling really overwhelmed and nothing is helping, you can always contact:
Meic (call 0808 80 23456, text 84001 or Online chat: meic.cymru.org).
Childline (0800 1111)
or the Samaritans (116 123).
Some tips to remind yourself that there really is more to life than exams
- Remember that you have other important characteristics. Think about the things that your friends, family and foster carers would say is great about you.
- Make a list of all the things that you enjoy – and then find some time to do them.
- Make another list of some of your recent accomplishments (however big or small) that are not related to exams.
- Look at some photos of a time when you were having fun and were super happy. Remember that these times are not dependent on how well you’ve done in your exams.