Exam anxiety in leaving cert student

carnsoreboxer

I hope someone here can give me some advice please.

My son, studies diligently and is very focused but doesn't seen to perform well in exams. His teachers have discussed this with me and, since 1st year, have been surprised at his end of year exam results. They do not compare favourably with term, weekly exams.

Finally he has admitted that he gets so anxious before the exams that he feels physically ill and blanks.

I have recently got him some rescue remedy to try.

Can anyone suggest anything else?

Thanks in advance

Keano!

Has he tried grinds?

There's also study courses on that teach you how to study properly. Anyone can open a book and read and claim they're studying, but it might not be properly studying if that makes sense.

There's several courses around that help focus peoples minds on the task at hand.. I know there's one in Foxrock that would be on benefit I'd imagine.

maggot12345

deep breathing exercises would be great for this--get him to try yoga or some other activity that practices this and do it prior and during exams. Also as he studies so diligently and regularly he should leave the books the night before an exam as cramming too much in the end can cause blanking. Finally I hope during the year he's doing something else besides studying ie sports, etc. as over doing it is not good.

i like pie

i had the same problem in 5th year especially in subjects like maths i finally got over the anxiety in 6th year by doing a few simple things. the night before the exams i would stop studying at nine, relax in front of the tv and go to bed at ten. i also found that the people around me before the exams used to panic me. people would be coming up to me saying omg did you study this? how do i answer this question? we're all going to fail!! so once i started avoiding these hyped up people i began to relax and this really worked for me in the leaving cert i know a few girls that found the rescue remedy very helpful, they used to bring a bottle of water with a few drops of rescue remedy in it into the exam and it really helped them!

Healium

Keano! wrote: »

Has he tried grinds?

There's also study courses on that teach you how to study properly. Anyone can open a book and read and claim they're studying, but it might not be properly studying if that makes sense.

There's several courses around that help focus peoples minds on the task at hand.. I know there's one in Foxrock that would be on benefit I'd imagine.

He doesn't need help studying, OP said he does well in weekly/term exams. The problem is that he seems to get so stressed out before the "bigger" exams that he blanks. I'm not sure what to suggest, to be honest.

Vodkat

http://www.educationforum.co.uk/examnerves.htm

Theres some tips on that site so maybe print it and put it up on the wall near his study desk?

carnsoreboxer

Thanks for all the anwers so far.

When I say he is diligent he gets A's and B's in most of his house exams/weekly tests. At parent/teacher meetings I have always been told "oh yes he is working well and would expect high B or A at end of year exams" Therefore you can imagine his disappointment when he scrapes a D.

Overall he is quite an anxious child, a person pleaser who rarely puts a foot wrong. For example if he is out and is running late getting home he would always contact us even if he is only going to be 10 mins late. During the summer we actually explained to him that now at the age of 17 we don't actually need to know his exact movements and he could relax once he was in within a reasonable time period.

I know some people are going to read this and ask what am I worried about - believe me I have been through the exact opposite with my other child!!! My worry is that he is so anxious that he is going to completely let himself down in June.

All we want for him is to do as well as he is able to and to look back on the year with no regrets.

It is heartbreaking looking at someone genuinely working so hard, coming in with his A's and B's on a weekly basis then blow it at end of year exams.

Lorrrrraine

Would he feel comfortable talking to somebody about his anxiety? If it took him a while to tell you that he doesn't perform as well as he should because of anxiousness then part of his issue could be that he's keeping things to himself too much.
I was never one to freak out at exams, but I did have an anxiety disorder. It was really helpful that I had people who could calm me down, tell me that even if things went terribly that it wouldn't be the end of the world. I found that saying "Come on, whats the worst that can happen?" and giving myself a few minutes before I had to do whatever was making me anxious a good method.
I know it seems really simple, I really do believe that talking about your fears is the best way to lessen them.
I was also rushed into taking sedatives, wouldn't recommend them, they actually made me sleepy which isn't the best thing to be during an exam.

thesimpsons

my son the exact same way - performs well on weekly tests and assignments but bad at the big exams, whereas my daughter does better at the bigger exams than the smaller ones. Son facing jnr cert next summer and and her the leaving cert it sure makes for a fun house . we are trying the rescue remedy with him and he does sports too so helpfully it'll all kick in at some stage. Our education system only handles the kids who can perform at the big exams though - its getting slightly better at leaving cert with the project work for some subjects but still doesn't suit the worrier.

spurious

Are his monthly/class exams of the same format/standard as the main exams?

Does he have issues with time management or does he write nothing, making himself more anxious?

Has he said he feels there is a problem?

carnsoreboxer

"Has he said he feels there is a problem"

We, as in teachers and parents, suspected there has been some sort of problem since 2nd year but despite gentle probing our son said everything was fine. It was only after his 5th year end of year exams that he admitted to having a problem. So to answer your question it came directly from him.

His house exams, both xmas and end of year, are done in the exact same format as JC and LC apart from having a student number. Same exam halls etc, similar timetable but maybe slightly shorter exams.

He is not involved in any particular sports but regularily attends the gym and jogs which I feel is a good way of getting rid of stress.

As previously said, he is a diligent student, very well focused who just falls apart.

My other child, on the other hand, did the bare minimum, crammed at the end and always did better than deserved in my opinion!!!

spurious

Does the school have access to an educational psychologist who could help?
It seems a terrible shame that such an obviously bright student is putting himself under so much pressure when there is no need.

Perhaps making him aware that regardless of what happens in the Leaving Cert., he can still get where he wants, be it college or otherwise. He can even go to college never having attempted a Leaving. It's surprising how many LC students (and indeed teachers in some schools) don't know of alternative entry methods to many courses.

Has he indicated any area which he might be interested in, course-wise?

lctake2

I know of somebody that had very bad exam anxiety and was allowed to sit her exams in a room with no other students, she was allowed to go and take breaks to clear her head and things like that. maybe that would help him a bit? i assume she had to be assesed by a psychologist though. tbh if he's becoming that anxious maybe he should try some CBT (cognative behavioural therapy)to learn to deal with the stress. this is something he needs to sort soon as there obviously will be college exams, interviews and lots of other stressful situations