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Has any one ever done an exam on no sleep?

Please could you help me :smile:

I get very stressed before exams even though I am totally prepared, but due to the amount of work I've put in and pressure I can't sleep the night before the exam. This is through desperation to get to sleep and be able to perform at my best.

If you have ever not slept before an exam can you let me know how it went bad or good so i can put this extremly frustrating fear into perspective.

Thanks :smile:

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Reply 1

Jayloo

I got an E in a business studies exam in January, in the summer I had left it too last minute to re-revise so I spent the entire night revising! I got an A! It's only one night of your life as long as you dont get too stressed about not sleeping and do something productive it'll be okay, adrenaline will get you through! If you do want to sleep dont revise the evening before and I sometimes take sleeping tablets just so I dont worry! :biggrin:

Reply 2

Aspiringlawstudent

I went into my final A-level exams without sleeping - you can sleep in summer.

Reply 3

_HabibaH_

Sure, all the time. I just can't sleep. So I stay awake just going over things because its better than doing nothing. A range of grades tbh - A*/A/B/C.

Reply 4

username873490

My first ever GCSE exam (biology) I was so nervous I didn't sleep a wink. Didn't go as well as later ones, but I still scraped an A*. Try to think of them just as mocks or past papers- I get more nervous when I think of what they actually mean.

Reply 5

ddrrzzeerr

I didnt sleep before my maths exam last year because I was revising. I don't really know if it was worth it because I did learn new stuff which was useful but I also could tell my mental performance wasn't at its best.

That exam was 3.5 hours, if your exam is a relatively short one, I don't think it will effect your performance as much.

Reply 6

weirdnessandcoffee

Yeah, I was really nervous for my GCSE English language exam and got to sleep at 3.30 in the morning. I felt so tired during the exam, but for some reason I got an A* in it. Then in my June exams, I got marked down to an A.

Reply 7

Tactical Nuclear Penguin

I once did an all-nighter before my last exam, which included a 2am lengthy argument with my ex-girlfriend over nothing at all. It was my last exam of my 2nd year and I had done precious little prep for it.

I ended up getting 48 in the exam and 51 overall in the module thanks to my coursework; my worst module score and brought my 2nd year average right down :frown:

So not recommended!

Sometimes the adrenaline can push you through it, though you'll drop down exhausted as soon as you leave :tongue:

I had a friend who was so nervous for her Int 2 exams that she didn't sleep the night before, slept a couple of hours the night before that, and threw up constantly almost up until the exam started...she still got all As and Bs for everything :smile:

I still don't recommend it obviously but you can still do well.

Reply 10

placenta medicae talpae

Yes, I've done this.
My best tip for you is to try to carry on as normal, despite the setback.
Don't take any remedial caffeine or do anything differently than you ordinarily would before an exam.
Just pretend that everything's normal and go in and do the exam.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 11

Steezy

I've had a few times when I didn't get as much sleep as I'd wanted and felt tired the next day. But I seem to have done OK in those exams so... I don't think it matters too much. If you're ridiculously exhausted, you won't be able to concentrate but a little sleep deprivation didn't hurt anyone too much....

Reply 12

louiseyoung

last summer i did my final a level history exam with no sleep. i had terrible ear ache and felt terrible. rest assured, the exam didn't go to plan, and i got a C when it should have been an A. thankfully, my other module marks were good enough to get an A overall. Doing the exam was terrible. I barely remembered anything, and my thoughts were foggy.

Reply 13

FlorenceTheGreat

Original post by Rooster523

My thoughts exactly when I read that.
"I thought it was a fart, Sir. I thought it was safe."

Reply 14

iknowi2

yep, I had sleep paralysis on 80% of nights before an exam. It wasn't because I was nervous, it was because the exams were so important that my brain went into an 'oh ****! exam starts in 10 minutes' mode all the way through the night.

You never feel sleepy 10 minutes before an exam, right? hence I just could not sleep. These were my A2 exams so the importance was understandable, luckily I got into my firm though...

Reply 15

ilickbatteries

Original post by kmackenzz

Please could you help me :smile:

Yeah, I got a U in my AS Media.

I didn't actually do any work in the entire year, had no sleep before the exam and wrote three lines before leaving early.

I didn't like media.

Reply 16

raftab

A year or so ago I did my SAT (American, I know) a 4 hour/4.5 hour exam, (I can never remember) with absolutely no sleep the night before and as a matter of fact, spent it with mates just chilling. Walking into the exam, I had an adrenaline rush that lasted me all of 20 mins. Felt tired and sleepy throughout the whole exam and towards the end just started falling asleep. Got a 1910/2400 which is okay but not enough for the Uni's I'm applying to. From then on, I never not sleep before an exam. It really screws your performance over. That's why revising early and getting decent sleep, despite being the most cliched thing ever, is good. It's been scientifically proven that a night without sleep is equivalent to being drunk over the legal limit.

If you get nervous, I recommend meditation and yoga. Calm yourself down, deep breaths and just happy thoughts. You'll sleep like a babe. Works for me at least!

Reply 17

Sparkle24

Original post by kmackenzz

Please could you help me :smile:

You might go to sleep during the exam :frown:

Reply 18

aishamarie

I didn't sleep the night before my English Lit exam(GCSE), was uber scared that I'd failed and came out with an A* - I swear it was the adrenaline that kept me through it!

thanks for the negg!
& thanks for the neg again... glad to see my success is appreciated

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 19

TimmonaPortella

I've done it once or twice. I did it before one of my law AS modules and got a high A (87 ums). I also did it before one of my classical civilisation A2 modules and got something like 85, can't remember exactly. I certainly wouldn't advise it, but if you're poorly prepared an all-nighter might actually be profitable. fwiw I did way better on the modules I didn't pull all nighters before, but that could be at least in part because I was at least a bit more prepared for those modules.