The Student Room Group
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>

Can someone please please help me. I don't think I can sit my exams.

I just can't. I had an exam today and I was sick to the stomach. The night before the exam I hardly got any sleep as I was up all night worrying. I studied a lot as well and was confident I knew everything. However in the exam room my palms starts sweating, my heart beats really fast and I can't concentrate. Thankfully I don't get panic attacks or anything. I get so scared and nervous in the exam, I rush things, make silly mistakes and don't read the question properly, or sometimes when I read the first line I think to myself I can't do it, this is it. Please I would really appreciate some words of advice on how to stay calm. Otherwise there's no point in doing my exams even though I know everything, I will just panic on that day. Thank you.
Hey,

Firstly, you're not alone in this. I've spoken to dozen of students who get hyper anxious in exams. The build up of tension, expectations, target grades and the actual exam paper can be very stressful. However, here's 3 tips that have helped people in the past to stay calm and do pretty well in their exams:

1. Focus. Your mind is going to be all over the place on exam day, and it's easy to give negative thoughts space to grow. Don't do that. As soon as that niggling voice enters your head- squish it. Just push it to the back of your mind and keep focused on one thing- proving how damn intelligent you are in that exam. It simplifies stuff sooo much if you just focus on the paper. In the exam, don't time-jump...be in the room, be present mentally and just take every page as it comes. Oh, and don't be around anxious people on the day- they'll just make you more nervous. Forget everyone else, and focus on how you're feeling. It's not a mental sprint, it's a marathon.

2. Breathe.This helps physically more than anything else. Breathe in for 6 seconds, and as you breathe in focus on positive thoughts, like getting that one question you knowww you can smash in the exam. Hold that breath in, and then breathe out slowly for 6 seconds through your mouth. As you exhale, let yourself feel nervous, anxious, scared and uncertain. Letting yourself breathe steadily and exhaling all your uncertainty genuinely helps.

3. Pace. This one is crazy vital, because lots of people are up all night worrying and then feel like a wreck in the exam. The night before, have a cut off line (10pm is good) where you'll stop revising, thinking about exams and checking TSR too. Just forget about it. Do something totally unrelated for a while before bed, and give yourself the luxury of relaxing. More worrying doesn't mean you care more and you'll do better...it just means you're rattling your mind. When you wake up, give yourself more than enough time to shower, eat and walk to school...get there early, follow the steps above, and don't forget it's okay to be confident- if you know your stuff the exam is just a formality :smile:

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you