A little adrenaline may be a good thing when it comes to exam time but getting seriously stressed only works against you. So what can you do to beat it?
Things to help avoid stress
- Revise sensibly – take breaks, don't cram
- Set realistic goals – reward yourself when you meet them
- Eat healthily
- wholemeal bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, fruit, nuts and vegetables can combat stress by helping to keep blood sugar levels steady
- Get regular exercise, even if it's just walking instead of taking the bus
- Make time for relaxing and socialising
- Get enough sleep
- if you need to be up early for your exams, gradually change your sleeping patterns over the weeks before so that you've adjusted by exams time
Ways to deal with stress
- Choose a relaxation technique and start practising now
- The Stop! technique is a great one that you can do in an exam without anyone noticing See page 8 of the Counselling Service's booklet on stress:
http://www.docs.sasg.ed.ac.uk/StudentCounselling/SCSbooklets/SCSstressbooklet.pdf
- Challenge negative thoughts and focus on positives, like what you do know and your previous successes
- If you start to feel stressed, tell someone else - friends, family, or a member of staff
In the exam
- Read the instructions and questions carefully - then do what they say
- Plan your time and stick to it
- over-running on one question means you'll probably lose marks over-all
- Plan essays / longer answers briefly before you start
- If a question is in parts, read them all before you start to answer
Don't panic!
- If you don't know/can't remember something, just move on
- If your mind goes completely blank
- think yourself back to a lecture, tutorial or lab where you studied the topic
- brainstorm any words, phrases, facts that you can remember – sometimes these will trigger others
- If you do begin to panic use a calming technique like the Stop! technique
What's on offer to help you prepare?
Exam preparation workshops
- The Counselling Service:
http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/student-counselling/services/presentation-workshop
- IAD Study Development:
Other resources
- Advice on exam preparation and technique on LearnBetter:
- Key advice sheets from LearnBetter Essentials on the website: