YoungMinds warns of intolerable exam stress for young people
In the last year, calls to its Parents Helpline about stress at school suffered by 16-17 year olds shot up by around 12% as young people struggle to get to university before the hike in tuition fees.
Director of Campaigns and Policy at YoungMinds Lucie Russell said: “Every year we get calls around this time of year from parents asking for advice on how to help their children cope with exam stress but this year they have increased and we are hearing a lot about added pressures to get good results.”
“For many young people, the increase in tuition fees will make university prohibitively expensive. So they feel under great pressure to get top grades first time round – retakes are not an option as this is the final year of lower tuition fees before they increase”
“Young people are not only faced with the pressure to get to university but they are also know there are very few jobs out there. With record youth unemployment young people know they are facing a highly competitive job market, a scramble for university places and generally dismal futures” she added.
In 2009/2010 YoungMinds received 6002 calls to the helpline, 859 of them about 16-17 year olds and, of those, more than a quarter, 27% , were about schools problems including exam stress. In 2010/2011 YoungMinds received 6332 calls to the helpline, 884 calls were about 16-17 year olds and, of those, 39% were about school problems including exam stress.
“Increasing pressure and stress will have an adverse affect on many young people leading to a range of mental health problems including self harm, eating disorders and depression. For a child who has problems in other areas of their life, such as family breakdown or friendship issues, exams can be the ‘last straw’. We need to do much more to protect young people, help them to develop resilience and support them when they find life hard to cope with” said Ms Russell
Grace, an 18 year old from Bristol said “ I’ve felt extreme pressure to do well in exams since my year 6 SATs, age 11. Since then the pressure has grown as I’ve progressed through secondary school, college and now that I have applied to go to university this September. I have my final A-level exams in a month and I’m putting in hours of work every day. If I don’t do enough work each day then I can’t relax and feel like I deserve to fail. This is because the amount of pressure there is to achieve.
I have a place at university this September. If I don’t get my required grades then there is no chance I will be going. I know there is the option to take a year out and reapply next year. However, due to the fee increase I would pay around £27,000 for my three year course if I deferred my entry. If I go this year, I start on the lower fee and stay on the lower fee, taking the total for my three years to £10,000. The amount of money I would save by going this year is an added pressure to do well in the summer exams.
I find myself working for longer as the exams get closer. It’s a viscous cycle. You stress, so you can’t sleep. Because you can’t sleep, you don’t get as much work done the next day. So you work for longer and stress more, so you sleep even less.
When I think about exams I feel physically sick and very anxious. My heart races, I get palpitations and headaches. I become irritable and snappy which is completely out of character for me. I lose interest in all the things I normally enjoy because all I can think about is work and the looming exams, and what it means if I don’t pass. I know that the pressure has definitely had a detrimental effect on my mental health and wellbeing.”
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