Looking After Your Mental Health During Exams

Looking after your mental health during exams is not a distraction from doing well — it is part of doing well. Revision without adequate sleep, breaks, and connection with people you trust is far less effective than revision built on genuine wellbeing. Taking care of yourself is what makes the work possible.

Why exam season is hard on mental health

Exam season brings a particular kind of pressure: high stakes, uncertainty about outcomes, comparison with peers, and the sense that weeks of effort will be judged in a single sitting. This is genuinely difficult, and it is normal to feel stressed, anxious, or low during this period.

YoungMinds reports that exam stress is one of the most common reasons young people in the UK experience mental health difficulties. Feeling nervous before exams is healthy and expected. But when stress starts affecting your sleep, appetite, mood, or ability to concentrate consistently, it is a signal that you need to adjust — not push harder.

The five foundations of wellbeing during exams

1. Sleep — non-negotiable

The NHS recommends that teenagers get between 8 and 10 hours of sleep per night. During exam season, sleep is where memory consolidation actually happens — the process by which new information moves from short-term storage into long-term memory occurs primarily during sleep, especially during deep sleep cycles.

Staying up until 2am cramming is almost always counterproductive. A student who has revised for six hours and slept for nine will outperform a student who has revised for ten hours and slept for five — because much of that extra revision will not be retained. Protect your sleep above everything else.

Practical steps:

• Set a consistent bedtime and stick to it even during exam season
• Stop screens (phone, tablet, laptop) at least 30 minutes before bed
• Avoid caffeine after 4pm — it disrupts sleep quality even if you can still fall asleep

2. Movement every day

Exercise is one of the most reliably effective tools for managing anxiety and low mood. It does not need to be intense or long — a 20-minute walk, a short run, a bike ride, or even a stretch session counts. The NHS identifies regular physical activity as a key component of good mental health for young people.

During exam revision, build movement into your schedule rather than treating it as a reward you cannot afford. Even a 15-minute walk between revision sessions will improve your focus for the next session.

3. Eat properly

Skipping meals because you "do not have time" is a false economy. Irregular eating leads to drops in blood sugar that increase anxiety, reduce concentration, and cause fatigue. You do not need a perfect diet during exams — you just need to eat regularly.

Breakfast before an exam is particularly important. Low blood sugar in the exam hall increases anxiety and makes it harder to think clearly. The NHS notes that a good breakfast is one of the simplest things you can do to support performance on exam day.

4. Stay connected

One of the most harmful patterns during exam season is social withdrawal — isolating yourself to revise and losing contact with friends and family who normally provide emotional support. Connection is a protective factor for mental health. You do not need hours of socialising; even a short conversation with a friend, a meal with family, or fifteen minutes outside with someone you like makes a real difference.

5. Build rest into your revision — planned breaks are not lazy

A revision session without a break after 45–50 minutes becomes progressively less effective. Your concentration dips, your retention falls, and you often end up reading the same paragraph five times without absorbing anything. Build breaks deliberately into every session, and have at least one afternoon or evening per week with no revision at all.

A simple wellbeing check-in

At the end of each day, check in with yourself on these five areas:

If you score mostly no, that is the signal to adjust — not to feel guilty, but to make a small change tomorrow.

When to ask for help

Some level of stress during exams is normal and manageable. But some signs indicate you need support from a trusted adult or professional:

• You are not sleeping for several nights in a row, despite trying
• You feel persistently hopeless, not just temporarily stressed
• You are regularly having panic attacks or very severe physical anxiety symptoms
• You have stopped eating, stopped seeing friends, or feel unable to function day-to-day
• You are having thoughts of harming yourself

If any of these apply, please speak to a parent, a trusted teacher, or your GP. YoungMinds has a free, confidential support line for young people. The Childline number is 0800 1111 — free to call, any time. These are not signs of weakness; they are signs that you need and deserve support.

Frequently asked questions

How do I stop thinking about exams when I am trying to sleep?

This is very common. The technique most supported by evidence is writing down everything on your mind before bed — a brief "brain dump" on paper. Once it is written, your brain is less likely to try to hold onto it. You might also try a short relaxation exercise: breathe in for four counts, hold for four, breathe out for four, repeat. This activates the body's calming response and can break the anxiety cycle at bedtime.

Is it okay to take a day off revision if I feel terrible?

Yes. A day of real rest when you are exhausted or overwhelmed will leave you in a much better state to revise effectively the next day. Pushing through exhaustion produces very little useful revision and depletes the wellbeing reserves you need for the whole exam period. One day off is not going to determine your grades; your overall preparation over weeks and months is what matters.

My friends seem less stressed than me — does that mean something is wrong with me?

No. People manage stress very differently and present it differently on the outside. Many teenagers who appear calm are feeling just as anxious privately. Comparing your internal state to other people's external presentation is almost never accurate. Focus on your own wellbeing rather than measuring your stress level against others.

Should I take breaks during revision, or keep going when I am in the zone?

Planned breaks are more effective than unplanned ones. If you are in flow and feeling productive, it is fine to extend a session — but build in a break as soon as that focus starts to slip rather than forcing yourself to continue. Aim for a 10–15 minute break after every 45–50 minutes of focused work. During that break, step away from your desk and do something genuinely different — make a drink, go outside briefly, listen to a song.

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