With GCSE and A-level courses placing increased focus on final exam results rather than coursework, and the opportunity for retakes reduced, students are under more pressure than ever to deliver on the day in exams. It is less a football season, and more like an Olympic final. So what lessons can school leaders, teachers and students take from elite sport to help them prepare for success?
In September, we considered how a school, a department or an individual teacher could get their systems and climate in the right place to support students most effectively. In this article, we’ll look at what support we can give students 10 weeks, 10 days and 10 minutes before the start line.
10 weeks out – practice makes perfect
An athlete would talk about this period as a time for refining technique and rehearsing for performance. Hopefully, much of the basic work – the acquisition of knowledge and understanding – will have been done over the past four terms. The challenge for students at this stage revolves more around recalling and relaying information quickly and, most importantly, being able to make the right decision under pressure. Dare we mention the key moments during England’s recent Rugby World Cup campaign when they either made the wrong call under pressure, or failed to execute the basics when it most mattered?
Visualisation is a simple technique athletes use that can be adapted for your students. Athletes train themselves to replay successful outcomes over and over in their heads before they take part in a competition. Evidence shows that this mental rehearsal actually leads to physical changes in the structure of the brain, building and strengthening information pathways leading to better performance.
You can make this easier by making your students more familiar with the routines they will follow and the environment they will work in during exams – the more detailed and accurate a picture they have, the more effective their visualisation will be. The Great Britain hockey teams preparing to play at the Rio Olympics are training on a specially-laid astroturf surface identical to the ones in Rio. Do you physically rehearse the walk to the examination hall, the gathering outside and the sitting at a particular desk?
10 days out – tapering
This is the point where teachers, parents and students will be tempted to cram in as much revision as possible. While it is important to use these last days well, emphasise quality over quantity, and encourage your students to focus on performance in a “match situation”. Revision should replicate the short, intense bursts of activity required to perform well in examinations and should ideally replicate the physical conditions as closely as possible – this is the time to turn off the music and sit at a desk.
Intense effort requires rest and recovery, however. Do you offer physical activity breaks for students during the revision period? Do you encourage your students to think about a balanced day that includes physical activity, recreation time, good nutrition and plenty of sleep? This may be the point at which your most highly motivated students need the most support as they are the ones who are likely to “over train”.
10 minutes to go – engaging the right part of the brain
They’re finally at the start line of their very own Olympic final. What is the last thing you do with your students before they go into the exam hall? It’s not the time to undo all your hard work and theirs by engaging the primitive, dinosaur portion of their brain associated with fear, anger or frustration. However deserving or tempting, now is not the time to rebuke a student for forgetting their tie or calculator. Smile at them, hand them a spare and cheerfully send them into the exam hall.
The Youth Sport Trust have developed “Get to the Start Line” which uses athlete mentors to help young people develop strategies for coping with exam stress and pressure. For more information, contact membership@youthsporttrust.org.
