Half of parents have no idea how to help their kids cope with exam stress

Author: Francesca FlynnPublished 11th Apr 2018
Last updated 11th Apr 2018

As exam season fast approaches- new stats show over half of parents don't know how to help their kids deal with revision stress.

It comes as the changes to GCSEs mean all the weight of the grade is put on exams.

A third of 16-18 year olds asked said they had no coping mechanism.

Joe Wood's an A Level student in Lancashire.

“It’s been a challenge for quite a while, exams don’t just last for the month.

“The past two years have been building up for this and I think if anything that piles the pressure on more.

“The young person’s the one who has to sit down and do it and the parents merely have to sit down and watch and it can be quite uncomfortable for them because they have to watch the stress, the emotions.

There are concerns for teenagers' mental health- as recent changes to grading means their whole mark can come from one exam.

Nearly eight in ten mums and dads feel there's too much pressure on their kids.

Andrew Mellor- is a headteacher in Blackpool and Vice President of the National Association of Headteachers in Lancashire.

“The additional pressure we have now is the pressure that schools are put under, because not only are these results important for individual students, it’s how schools are judged.

“It’s impossible for that stress from the school not to be passed down to individual children.”

Andrew had this message for parents.

“Don’t put too much pressure on them, as long as they’ve put the work in, you should be able to sleep easy.

“It’s about having an understanding that you’re going to do everything you possibly can to minimise pressure."

There's more help and advice here