Littleover Community School

BBC Young Reporter @ LCS

Students and teachers take on exam pressure

By: Kyra


			Students and teachers take on exam pressure
This shows how confused students can be when under pressure.

Eight per cent of young people have had suicidal thoughts brought on by the stress of exams, a report reveals.

Rob Wilde, from Coventry University also reported heavy drinking, drug taking and argumentative behaviour.

Kyra Sandhu spoke to teachers and students at Littleover Community School to find out how exams cause stress.

Year 11 Science teacher, Mrs Craig feels there is too much stress because of “the exam structure” and “finds it difficult to cover both content and skills”. However, Mrs Tomlinson feels that “pressure varies throughout different students”. Student, Jaya aged 16, suggested that “stress builds when there is no break and the teachers don’t stop nagging you to revise.” Daniel-aged 15- says he doesn’t suffer from exam stress as he has “an exam timetable, but there are too many exams”.

Signs of stress can be difficult to spot, both teachers agree that “quiet people tend to hide the pressure”. Though Mrs Craig adds “I have students that get really emotional and she finds students crying over their exams”.

Students feel that doing different types of revising help relief the stress, whereas Mrs Craig says that she hold “Tuesday extra revision and support classes’ afterschool”. Mrs Tomlinson’s last point were her strategies to helping students cope with exam stress. She says “reassurance, time to focus and praises are the best ways.” She then says that her students think that “everything in the future relies on their grades”. She feel it is “totally wrong” to think that, and that she knows people who have prospered without getting remarkable grades at GCSE.

prospered without remarkable grades at GCSE

Mrs Tomlinson - science teacher