A-levels are well known for causing stress levels to rise among students, which is something that makes trying to revise incredibly difficult. That’s why we’ve come up with a list of seven things you can do to combat A-level exam stress!
1. Take a break
Unlike a machine, you probably can’t work for hours without rest. It’s not forbidden for you to take a break and watch TV with your family instead of endlessly studying over your textbook. Remember, working too much can lead to feeling burnt out, and that will lead to you being much less productive. Take a break and stick to it, but then make sure you do come back to your work in an hour!
2. Don’t compare your revision to others
Everyone revises in different ways, so remember that just because someone has made stacks of notes doesn’t mean that your revision is any worse or better. Everyone works at their own pace and to their own strengths, so don’t worry if you’re doing completely different things to your friends and other people in your year group - you’ll know what works for you.
3. Plan out your study sessions
Knowing exactly what you intend to do is a great way of making sure you do it! Be specific - telling yourself to ‘revise for physics’ is much more daunting than ‘read chapter two of the textbook and summarise it’. Breaking it down gives you a place to start and makes it easy to see your progression. Work out what you’re going to do before you sit down and get started so you are completely ready to go when you open your books.
4. Eat properly
Make sure you have enough physical energy for your day by making sure you eat enough to keep going. And that means no snacking on junk food! This will just make you feel more run down and won’t help you with your stress. Eating healthy snacks will make you feel better, as well as improving your health at the same time - which is crucial in avoiding getting ill during exam time!
5. Get a decent amount of sleep
Being well-rested means you’re more likely to focus the next day and concentrate on what you’re doing. If you feel sleepy during a study session, then consider taking a quick nap and coming back to it afterwards - it may make you focus better on the work. Forcing yourself to sit at a desk when you’re tired will do more harm than good. This also means that you shouldn’t pull all-nighters unless you absolutely have to, as any work you do at this time is unlikely to be the best work you could do.
6. Talk to someone about it
This could be a teacher, a parent, a therapist or just your friends. You’re not the first person to go through this and they will all be able to help you in some way. Teachers might be able to organise extra sessions if you’re struggling, or sometimes you just need a friend to empathise with you. Either way, getting your stress off of your chest will make you feel a million times better than keeping it all inside.
7. Don’t feel guilty
If you accidentally watched an extra episode of something on Netflix and missed your study session, then don’t let it drag you down. Instead, just think of how you’ll avoid it next time and do the study session at the next time you can. Missing one session won’t destroy all of your revision, but letting it stress you out will because you’ll end worrying about it instead of working.
We hope these tips helped you out a little! Remember you shouldn’t spend your A-levels just stressing, there’s also time for fun too!
