It is normal for examination students to feel stressed coming up to the written papers. Here are some simple tips that can help you to dial down the anxiety levels.
Take a deep breath: after two years of stop-start schooling, June 8, 2022, sees the beginning of the written papers in this year’s Leaving/Junior Cert examinations.
Five steps to calmer mental health prior to and during your exams
It is perfectly normal for anxiety levels to run high during important examinations at any stage of life. Instead of trying to eliminate it, students should try to set about managing it and accepting that certain levels of anxiety are useful when it comes to high pressure situations such as the Leaving/Junior Cert.
1. Trust in what you have done to date
Anxiety comes from fear of the unknown, and so any situations where you are assessed under pressure, such as a job interview or an exam, amplify this uncertainty. Students can become consumed by the unknowns and therefore immobilised by the lack of control they have over the outcome, and this can result in panic. However, students should concentrate on the “knowns” and attempt to reassure themselves that they have prepared to the best of their ability for the exams. They are in a far stronger position to answer the questions which will be asked this year, given the far wider range of choices.
2. Focus on your own preparations
Do not compare your preparation to others as you will always adjudge yourself to be not doing enough or as much as you feel you should.
3. Try to take control of your anxiety
Use it to motivate you to consolidate what you know already, rather than allowing it to distract you with worst-case scenario unknowns.
4. Put it into perspective
Where the anxious voice in your head is dominating the discussions, remember to invite two other influences to join the conversation, namely “context” and “perspective”. These will help you to counter-argue your anxious thoughts and manage the unwelcome guest of anxiety in your life.
5. This is the final challenge of a crazy two years
Always remember that anxiety is only here for a short period of time and soon it will be gone. After this final fence is jumped you will have the summer to relax and look forward to a post pandemic life of further in-person study in college or employment/apprenticeship in the autumn.
What is the most important thing to do to prepare for the Leaving Cert?
Organise all your revision notes for all the examination papers in each subject you are scheduled to sit papers in, in June. Try organising them backwards, starting from your last exam, identifying the periods of time you have available before each paper to finally review your notes and sample answers.
When you have completed this process, you will have a clear picture of how you are going to use every hour available to you over the last weeks of schooling and the gaps between the exams themselves; it will help you make sure all sections of every papers have identified time slots for final revision.
Undertaking this simple process will give you back a sense of control over the exam and reduce excess stress.
How can parents help their children get through the next few weeks?
Know your child’s examination schedule. Pin the timetable up prominently at home, with each exam to be taken highlighted. In the stress of the whole exam period, you need to be always aware when he/she must be in the examination centre.
Try drawing up a checklist of daily requirements based on the day’s exams. Writing instruments and other requirements, such as rulers, erasers, and calculators, should be checked.
After each day’s exams parents should allow their son or daughter to recount his/her daily story. Do not be tempted to review in detail the errors or omissions he/she may have made. Simply allow your student the time and space to tell his/her story and move on to the next challenge and the next paper.
Help your child focus on the next challenge. It can be helpful to your son or daughter to review the paper or papers immediately ahead. Simple questions around the nature of the exams can be very useful in helping your son or daughter to focus on what’s next.
Finally, try not to overhype the importance of any exam. Parents need to be aware that sons or daughters taking the Leaving/Junior Cert can sometimes mistakenly believe that their standing in their parent’s eyes is dependent on their success in the examination.
Ensure your son or daughter is clear that your unconditional love and regard for him/her is in no way dependent on how he/she performs in any exam. This affirmation is the greatest gift you can give them at the start of their Leaving/Junior Cert in four weeks’ time.
