Oxfordshire schools help students to deal with 'most stressful exam season ever'

But concerned teachers have warned Government efforts to raise standards amid fierce competition for jobs may leave some youngsters struggling to cope.

Schools have said they are doing more than ever to make sure their pupils as relaxed as possible and go into exams in the right state of mind to achieve good grades.

Controversial new Sats tests for primary school children have been criticised for being too difficult.

And A-Level students are now studying towards sitting all their exams in some subjects in one go – rather than spreading them over two years.

The main GCSE, AS-Level and A-Level exam timetable starts today, with hundreds of young people sitting papers, while primary school pupils in years two and six will take Sats.

Lynn Knapp, headteacher at Windmill Primary School in Headington, (pictured) said: "Pupils are under more stress than ever.

"They cannot not be aware of the tests. They sit at a table and are not allowed to speak.

"They are not allowed access to the resources they would normally use and they are under a time restriction.

"We had a child on Monday who had a migraine and went home sick in the middle of the test.

"I am sure some of that is because she had not had a good night's sleep because she had been worrying."

Mrs Knapp said the school tried to prepare children as much as possible to reduce stress, but recently sent a letter telling parents results would probably not accurately reflect their child's ability.

There have also been changes to secondary school exams, with pupils who started studying A-Levels in September 2015 the first who will sit all of their exams in some subjects in one go rather than splitting them over two years.

GCSEs have also changed in recent years to discourage youngsters from re-sitting and coursework has been scrapped.

Oxford Spires Academy headteacher Sue Croft (pictured) said: "The pressure is bigger than ever, but schools are also more able to cope with it than ever before.

"The thing that tends to affect pressure is the economic climate. How much competition is out there for jobs and places at university?

"There is a huge pressure of personal expectation upon each individual.

"They know everybody will know their grades and those grades will stay with them for a long time."

Ms Croft said pupils were given relaxation techniques and taught about mindfulness to help them keep on top of revision.

The headteacher also meets with some pupils who feel concerned about exams in small groups and speaks to them about revision.

She said: "Getting them ready for exams is a big part of what we do."

ChildLine, the NSPCC-run charity, said 3,077 young people had phoned its counsellors to talk about exam stress in the current academic year – a nine per cent rise from last year.

Blythe Heakin, a pupil at King Alfred's Academy, Wantage, who is studying for level three BTEC qualifications, said she understood how young people felt.

The 17-year-old said: "Exams are definitely more stressful than they used to be.

"I know some people who did BTECs this year because they just could not face sitting any more exams.

"The support from King Alfred's has been really important to me."

King Alfred's headteacher Jo Halliday said she did not feel this year was any more stressful – every year group felt pressure.

She said: "Our ethos is to treat students as individuals and we work really hard to provide tailored support that will help reduce the inevitable stress.

"Teachers make themselves available to students after school, in half term and in the Easter holidays.

"By doing so we provide a structured revision programme and a structured support for students."

Jolaade Oke, 15, Oxford Spires Academy, sitting GCSEs

"I have found revision okay but there have been bits that have been more testing than others.

"It is more stressful than it has ever been before.

"Nowadays it really matters which university you go to and it is important to get good grades early on.

"Every single teacher here has been helping me."

Lewis Waring, 16, Oxford Spires Academy, sitting GCSEs

"You get stress with exams because you want to succeed.

"If you think you will succeed and do not worry too much about the actual exam I think you will be fine.

"The expectation has always been to succeed but that expectation is much more now.

"But teachers seem to know what they are doing and they give us help."

Lewis Thorne, 18, Oxford Spires Academy, sitting A-Levels

"There is definitely more pressure to get top grades.

"You go to open days at universities and they are constantly talking about A*s in this and A*s in that.

"Twenty years ago that would never have been expected.

"Teachers make it clear what is expected from us without expecting too much while pushing us to aim high."

Tarzina Khatun, 18, Oxford Spires Academy, sitting A-Levels

"I find it stressful but I do also get an adrenaline rush off it when it comes to the exam itself.

"It is more stressful in the lead up.

"I really find the school helps, especially with answering questions and teachers really tell you want they are looking for."

Rachael Warwick, Didcot Girls's School headteacher: "The ethos of the school is very much embedded in a growth mindset.

"It is about taking on challenges and not being afraid of failure and recognising that you learn by making mistakes.

"We run a lot of holiday schools and Saturday school revision classes.

"We have a study cafe that runs after school and has fruit and juice and cake to incentivise the pupils a bit.

"We had our ex-head girl back to talk about what she found helpful with exams.

"We have a guy from the mental health charity Mind who speaks to the girls about mindfulness. It is so important that girls learn to cope themselves.

"The whole ethos here is telling the girls that they are good enough and they need to be resilient and that they will do well

"It is going to get more pressure because the new specifications are really coming in from next September and the phasing out of coursework.

"But young people are very flexible and adjustable.

"We need to make sure we can support them.

"There are stereotypes with girls being more anxious or putting more pressure on themselves but we try not to fuel that."