A Suffolk psychologist offers advice to young people taking school exams

Some of these children have never sat an in person exam, due to covid.

Studying
Author: Jasmine OakPublished 18th May 2022

Children in Suffolk are getting down to their A-Levels and GCSEs, with some facing in-person exams for the first time.

We spoke to local Psychologist Fiona Hanna from Teenage Mental Heath to help identify some of the issues that could appear for these pupils.

"We're talking about two different cohorts really. The first are the ones that are sitting there A-levels at the moment, they didn't get the chance to do their GCSE's.

"They didn't get that practice that really good experience.

"Now some schools do end of year exams continuously and do lots of mocks and were able to counter for that, others haven't so much.

"So there's a lot of anxiety out there amongst the children now as a society, we tend to judge anxiety as a negative emotion. Happy is positive anxieties negative.

"But actually having a negative emotion isn't necessarily a negative thing.

"You need a certain amount of anxiety and negativity to get you over the finish line quite often, and transversely being happy all the time is not really a very good idea.

"What I would say to people is yes, they're (the pupils) anxiety levels are gonna be higher, they're going to be higher because there's a whole social structure going around it.

"They haven't got to practice before. It's a bit like last chance saloon. 'We've got to do this.'

"But actually it's normal to feel like that when you come across a difficult, important situation. Anxiety is perfectly normal and it's part of life."

"I suppose the thing I would say is try and calm down.

"Keep it in perspective. It's not that big a deal. Nobody ever died because they didn't pass their A-level English. You can reset it.

"It's not the end of the world. In the grand scheme of things, it is not that big a deal... Teachers will hate me for saying that."

We asked Fiona what should be done to try and reduce the stress around the exams so students catastrophise the idea of exams: "I would say to remember to have fun and not become too pressurized.

"It is a pressurized moment. You do need to work hard, but...don't forget that the important part of study is to get out of the house and get some fresh air in your lungs and some sun on your face and do some fun things.

"It's not gonna ruin your revision schedule if you actually watch a funny episode of what your favourite programs is, in between revision stints.

"You (pupils) need a good night's sleep sitting the exam. You need a decent diet.

"I'm not talking about healthy diet. I'm talking about a nutritious diet.

"If you're a teenager, you need a bit of fat. You need a bit of protein, you need some dairy products in there as well as some fruit and vegetables.

"So eating a good diet will significantly help/ We have that phrase hangry. It's there for a reason.

"The other thing you can do is just be realistic, don't build it up into something it isn't.

"If you fail your exams, it's not the end of the world, you can re-sit them.

"When we dress it up as an all or nothing, it becomes very pressurizing.

"When we give a realistic slant to it, it's important you do well. But if you don't do well, nobody will die. It's OK you can r-sit it. And take that pressure off the child."

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