Leaving Cert 2024: Tips on how to manage your stress and ...
Nerves are probably at a high in Leaving Cert households, but it is surprising how sitting these “life-changing” exams quickly becomes the new normal.
Final preparations for exams should be focused on maximising techniques and chances of success.
As we begin to count the hours rather than the days, there are a few things to prioritise to achieve our best.
It is essential that all students take time to become familiar with the marks available for each section and the time they should spend on each question in the exam.
A candidate will also receive more marks for attempting all the questions required than completing one perfect answer and not attempting another section.
Teachers will have gone through this information in class. Students should give themselves some time the night before each exam to become familiar with this and even memorise it.
Write it out on your answer booklet as soon as you are allowed to begin writing and before you begin reading the paper. It is easy to forget or become confused once you are in the middle of the exam.
The days before each exam should be spent going over the final details and reminding yourself of what you have been studying. Look at the flashcards or mind maps you have made. Read over the essays you have prepared. Test yourself on short-answer questions or do a mind map of what you would write if a particular question came up.
Make sure you know the structure of your exams and where you have a choice: for example, if you should do sections A and B or section A or B.
Remember that due to changes made during Covid, the structure of the exams could look slightly different from those of past papers.
It may seem obvious, but spending time ensuring you have the right materials is very important. Every year we see students forget calculators for maths. The school may not have such materials on hand. It is terrible to lose points over such a little mistake.
Having your bag prepared, travel plans made and giving yourself plenty of time to ensure you can tackle any unexpected events will help you keep calm.
Once an exam is completed, try to move on and avoid post-mortems. Often, we are more likely to remember those questions we could not answer than the questions in which we did well.
Spending too much time reviewing the paper or trying to figure out what mark was achieved will not change the grade, but is likely to increase stress and anxiety or affect future performance.
Similarly, avoid other students who may wish to discuss exams in too much detail. Ensure you put yourself first and walk away.
Try to take some time to relax and regroup after each exam, especially if you have more than one on the same day.
Make sure you have lunch, make sure you chat with a friend, take a little walk before moving on to reviewing notes for the next exam. Brains and bodies need a rest to perform at their best.
Parents also need to avoid conducting post-mortems. As frustrating as the teenage response of “Fine” may be, probing too much may just create more stress and be unhelpful.
Parents can aid their student children to manage their nerves by helping them look after the basics. Food and lifts are always welcome.
If a student is upset by their performance in a particular exam, it is helpful to listen to them, and then help them focus on the next exam.
We always have a tendency to remember those questions we struggled with over those we did well in.
Aoife Walsh is a guidance counsellor at Malahide Community School in Co Dublin
