Home
Research into exam stress has revealed that 71.3 percent of students facing exams this May say they only get ‘some’, ‘very little’ or no support or guidance from their schools on revision practices. The survey has been released to launch National Revision Week (20-26 April), to raise awareness of exam stress and to provide teachers and students with tips, tools and advice to help reduce anxiety and increase exam performance.
The survey, carried out by exam preparation app Gojimo, had more than 500 respondents. It also asked students, on a scale of one to five, how stressed they were about their exams, to which the majority (31.5 percent) said they were at level five (“terrified and freaking out”). When asked how far in advance they thought they should start studying for exams, the majority (43.8 percent) said more than eight weeks in advance. However, when asked in reality how far in advance they actually start studying, the majority (32.6 percent) said they left it until approximately five weeks before.
National Revision Week is supported by Gojimo in conjunction with YoungMinds, the UK charity which aims to improve the emotional wellbeing and mental health of children and young people.
Gojimo founder George Burgess explains why the initiative is one that’s close to his heart: “Exam time is the most important part of a child’s progression in life, whether they decide to go on to further education or not, and consequently, it becomes one of the most stressful times. For many students, it will be the first time they will have ever really faced stress, worry or anxiety; it was for me. Like most students, I was a crammer, but it’s certainly not something I would encourage as it doesn’t support long-term memory and can lead to stress. One of the things we’re now trying to do is encourage students to study little and often, which is far more effective than one big push in the few days before an exam”.
