5 Practical Ways to Deal with Exam Pressure
- bfmathshello
- 22 minutes ago
- 3 min read
[TLDR - Exams feel stressful for everyone. Here are five practical ways to stay in control:
It's perfectly normal for everyone to feel stressed about their exams. Some feel less, some feel more. Here are my 5 practical tips/advice:
1. Use One Countdown App for Your Last Exam Day
Download a countdown app that shows the number of days until your final exam, not individual exam dates.
Show it on the first page of your phone screen
One important rule: only set one countdown.
Avoid creating separate countdowns for every exam. Seeing multiple timers ticking down at different speeds can make students panic unnecessarily. It can feel as if exams are coming at you from every direction.
A single countdown to the last exam day keeps things simple. This gives you a clear sense that you are working towards the finishing line.
2. Create, Follow and Update a Revision Timetable
A clear plan removes a lot of unnecessary stress.
When students feel overwhelmed, it is often because they do not know where to start. A revision timetable solves this problem by turning a big task into smaller daily steps.
However, a timetable only works if you actually follow it.
If you realise after a few days that you are not sticking to the plan, do not abandon it completely. Instead, update it so that it becomes more realistic.
I have written a guide on how to create a revision timetable here: Guide
3. Do Something Physical When You Start to Panic
When students start worrying about the future, they often freeze and stop being productive.
Instead, do something physical and active to reset your mind. For example:
Do a past paper
Do some housework
Play sports or go for a walk
Avoid video games, television or social media during these moments. These activities do not remove the stress, they simply delay it. Once you stop, the worry usually returns.
4. Rotate Your Subjects Each Day
Try not to revise the same subject on consecutive days.
Instead, rotate through your subjects across the week. This keeps revision fresh and prevents mental fatigue from focusing on the same material repeatedly.
It also helps psychologically. When you rotate subjects, you feel more reassured that you are making progress across everything rather than neglecting certain subjects.
A simple rotation makes revision feel more balanced and manageable.
5. Mindset - FEG: Focus, Efficient, Grit
This is a simple mindset I often share with students.
Focus
When you revise, focus fully. Remove distractions and keep your phone away. One hour of focused revision is far more valuable than three hours of distracted revision.
Efficient
Only do things that are efficient. Ask yourself whether your revision strategy is efficient. For example, reading notes repeatedly in maths is often not very effective. Doing practice questions is much more powerful. Revising for five hours straight is also inefficient. Your brain will be exhausted. 3* 1-hour sessions are usually far more productive.
Grit
When you feel like giving up, stay gritty. Tell yourself to do just one more question. Just one more step. Often that small push is enough to keep the momentum going.
Who Am I
I am a qualified Mathematics teacher with a decade of experience teaching GCSE and A level Maths, including Further Maths. I have worked with students across a wide range of abilities, from those finding A level Maths challenging to those aiming for the very top grades.
I created BF Maths to support students who want to take more control of their learning.
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