Exam anxiety tips you won’t want to miss!

Exam anxiety tips you won’t want to miss! Feeling anxious about taking exams is not only really common, but also completely understandable, regardless of whether you’re about to do Initial Assessments, Functional Skills, GCSEs, or A Levels.

No time like the present

• Take a slow breath - in through the nose, breathing into your lower belly (for about 4 seconds)• Hold your breath for 1 or 2 seconds• Exhale slowly through the mouth (for about 4 seconds)• Wait a few seconds before taking another breath

There is a saying “never put off until tomorrow what you can do today” and preparing for an exam is a perfect example of this! Starting your revision early - months before your exam - will go a long way to help you feeling much more calm and help with those last minute panics before, and on the exam day itself.

People who feel anxious tend to take quick, shallow breaths, without realising. This can make your arms and legs feel tingly or can make you feel as if you’re going to faint.

To help you feel calm, take slow, deep breaths, and try this technique:

And… breathe!

Repeat this cycle until you start to feel more relaxed. You can do this in the build up, immediately before you go into the exam or even whilst you’re taking the exam.

If you do tend to get nervous and you’re worried about sitting an exam, read on for some great tips - and those negative thoughts and niggles will be banished forever before you know it!

Acupressure is an ancient Chinese method of healing which involves applying pressure to different points of the body to relieve anxiety:

• Measure three fingers width down from your wrist

• Where your third finger touches the middle of your forearm, hold this pressure point and gently knead the thumb in a circular motion for 2 minutes

• You should apply firm pressure on your skin, but not too much that it causes you any pain

When you feel stressed out, adrenaline courses through your body and causes your heart rate to increase, muscles to tense up, making you feel uncomfortable and sometimes physically sick.

To get rid of some of this nervous energy, try these simple steps:

• Clench your toes and your hands as hard as you can and hold for 5 seconds

• Relax your muscles. This works well whether you are stood up or sat down

• Repeat several times

You may sit down to your exam and think “I can’t do this. The questions look horrendous. I’ll never pass. I’m so scared of failing.” Before you know it, your thoughts have spiralled out of control. As soon as you notice these negative thoughts, stop them in their tracks – banish them to the back of your mind!

Try to remember:

• Even if you were to fail, having the experience of sitting the exam and seeing the style of questions will help you pass next time around

• Take a deep breath because – no matter what the outcome – you will cope and everything will be okay

Use acupressure to relieve anxiety

Clench and relax

Positive Mental Attitude

Remember the famous saying…“If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again”!

Your assessor is there to help you every step of the way in your learning journey and is always available for you to communicate with by phone or email.

Remember, exams don’t define you, they purely measure a very small part of the amazing person you are. If you pass – great! If not, you won’t be the first or last person to fail an exam, so try to keep everything in perspective… and don’t give up! All anyone can expect of you on the day is to try your best and give it your all.

• Don’t be afraid to ask for help! If you are feeling panicky and just need someone to lend an ear, the first step to making things better is to talk to somebody about it

• Parenta’s specialist skills tutors are on hand if you need extra help with your functional skills

… It’s good to talk

And lastly…

Good luck!

It’s good to read…

You can use your NUS card to get discounts on many things like cinema tickets, clothes shops and festivals. But you can also use it to buy text books for your course.

• Here is our recommended reading list for apprenticeships – we hope you find it useful!

• Once you’ve found your qualification, all you need to do is click on the image or link and you can buy the book straight from Amazon.

Happy reading!

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