27 Jan 2026
Although our role as Exam Officers mainly covers all things admin related, we often see our students struggling to handle the mental stress that comes along with exams. Here we look at some simple stress busting ideas you can share in your supporting role and use yourself to keep on top of any mental overload.
We often tell students to “just do their best” in exams. But when stress takes over, that simple phrase can feel impossible. They can be the most prepared student in the room, but if their panic kicks in, revision notes blur, or their mind goes blank, all that learning can feel out of reach.
It’s not laziness or lack of effort on anyone’s part — it’s how stress affects our brains.
We’re all under more pressure than ever. Students revise, complete lots of practice papers — and still face big anxiety in the lead-up to exams. Why? Because academic knowledge is only part of the story. Without the right thinking skills, students struggle to stay calm, think clearly, and access the learning they’ve worked so hard to retain.
Thinking well isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s the missing piece of the exam puzzle. And that’s true for us as Exam Officers too! So don’t ignore your own mental wellbeing as the months slip by to summer.
How Thoughts Shape Feelings and Reactions
When exam season approaches, many students fall into a cycle of negative thinking:
- “I’m going to mess this up.”
- “I’ll never remember everything.”
- “Everyone else is doing better than me.”
- “What if I fail?”
You may think similar thoughts about your own ability to manage your workload:
- “it’s too much right now”
- “why don’t people give me what I need from them?”
- “what if I forget something?”
- “I can’t manage all this by myself”
These thoughts aren’t just hard to handle — they trigger real physical responses. Student or Exam Officer – such thoughts have the same result. Our heart races. Breathing becomes shallow. The brain goes into survival mode and common sense loses out.
In this state, it’s almost impossible to focus, recall facts, or problem-solve effectively.
This is why students can revise well at home but underperform in the exam hall. And why you may feel perfectly great at away from work but feel the stress building back at school.
Stress overrides our ability to act rationally.
But here’s the good news: we can all learn to manage our thinking — and when we learn to think well, we’re calmer and can perform better.
Mental Techniques That Build Calm and Confidence
Understanding how our thoughts affect our feelings and reactions can help all of us working in exams to recognise any unhelpful patterns we may have and start to choose better ways to manage them. That might include any of the following:
1. Positive Self-Talk
Instead of spiralling into “I can’t do this,” we (and our students) might practise saying:
- “I’ve prepared for this.”
- “It’s normal to feel nervous — I know how to handle it.”
- “I’m doing my best, and that’s enough right now.”
Positive self-talk helps rewires the brain to reduce fear and increase focus. And that builds resilience.
2. Visualisation
Begin by walking confidently into school, and into meetings, breathing deeply as you go, and before any important answer is asked of you. When you apply it yourself, you’ll feel able to share it with the students. The more you do it, the more your brain starts accepting the new visual as the new reality.
3. Grounding and Breathing
Teaching simple grounding techniques like box breathing can help us all move from being in panic mode to being more present. When we learn how to calm our body, it enables our brain to handle our thinking and learning processes better.
4. Challenge the Thought
Why not challenge yourself (or suggest it to a student). Ask
- “Is this thought 100% true?”
- “What would I say to a friend who was thinking this?”
- “What’s another way to look at this?”
Learning to think critically helps us all break free from an out of control anxiety spiral triggered by ‘loose’ thinking.
The Cost of Ignoring Thinking Skills
We invest so much in delivering the content for exams:
- Revision resources
- Exam workshops
- Catch-up and after school sessions
They’re all valuable. But if students can’t manage their thoughts and feelings under pressure, all that effort risks being wasted.
No matter how well they’ve studied, students won’t succeed if they can’t access their learning ‘in the moment’ when it matters most.
That’s why schools need to put thinking skills at the heart of their exam preparation strategy — not just as an add-on.
Helping students learn to think well isn’t about “fixing” anxiety overnight. It’s about building lifelong tools for emotional awareness, resilience, and mental clarity — tools that support not just exams, but every aspect of their future.
This is true for us in our role as Exam Officers too. No matter how well we know our job, if we get unhinged by the small things, things can break down. Being grounded in every aspect of what we do and who we are is our key to success.
When we understand ourselves, we can support those around us better.
What You Can Do
You play a crucial role in shaping students’ thinking around exams. Encourage positive attitudes:
- Praise effort and exam mindset, not just results. Encourage students to think “You worked through that even when it was tough.”
- Make space to talk about stress. Acknowledge it’s real and give students tools to manage it.
- Include mindset-building as part of revision. Just five minutes spent on visualisation or breathing can shift the mood of a whole class.
You don’t need to be a counsellor or pastoral assistant to make a difference. Just helping students feel seen and heard in their stress is important.
And while you’re at it – give yourself a pat on the back too.
Allow yourself to open up to others if or when things get tricky. Things that stay stuffed down are bound to overflow at some point. Sharing really can ease the load.
Think Well to Do Well
The truth is, as if any sphere of life, it’s not enough to ‘be’ the smartest, we need to know how to access our personal genius. And that means being able to stay calm, focused, and in control under pressure.
Thinking well is a skill that can be taught, practised, and mastered — just like essay writing or solving equations. When we give find the right tools to manage our thoughts and emotions, we open the door to real success: not just in exams, but in life.
So let’s stop treating stress like a side issue.
It is the issue — and when we learn to handle stress, whenever and wherever it appears, we all have a fighting chance to shine.
I work with schools to prepare their students for the mental challenge of exams. I offer 1-day CPD workshops and Inset Days Training for schools to help build Teacher and Student Resilience to exam stress.
Want me to work with your staff on Exam Stress and Thinking Skills? Download my CPD pack at www.geraldinejozefiak.com/cpd
Contact me at hello@geraldinejozefiak.com