Exam stress

Exam stress starts when you feel you can't cope with revision, sitting exams or pressure from your school or family. You can get help and find ways to cope.

Feeling worried about exams?

The pressure to revise and do well in exams can be very stressful.

You might be worried you are going to fail or that you won't get the grades you need for the course or job you want.

Pressure of exams can make you feelanxious or stressed. This is normal and you can get support. Find out more aboutcoping with anxiety and panic attacks.

It can seem scary to talk about stress or anxiety. You might feel like nobody else is feeling this way. Bottling up stress and trying to deal with it on your own can often make the stress worse. It can really help to talk.

Coping with stress

If you feel stressed about taking exams you aren’t alone in feeling like this – lots of other young people have anxiety at exam time. Check out our message boards where other people share their experiences.

You can get help by talking to someone you trust. You can also talk to ChildLine.Talking about how you are feeling can reduce the pressure and help you to feel more in control.

Check out our top revision tips.

I'm scared I'm going to fail my exams.
When we feel anxious, we often give ourselves negative messages like: ‘I can’t do this’, ‘I’m useless’ and ‘I’m going to fail’. It can be difficult but try to replace these with encouraging thoughts such as: ‘this is just anxiety, it can’t harm me’ and, ‘relax, concentrate - it's going to be okay’. Picturing how you would like things to go can help you feel more positive. For example, try to imagine yourself turning up to an exam feeling confident and relaxed. You turn over your paper, write down what you do know and come away knowing you tried your best on the day.

Check out our top revision tips for advice and ideas on preparing for exams.
Problems at home make it hard to concentrate. What can I do?
If I don't get the grades I need, it'll ruin everything.
Everyone expects me to do really well and it's stressing me out.
My friends never revise, but they always do better than me.
I'm worried about sitting the exam.