The biggest help you can give is a calm routine, a quiet space, and steady encouragement. Here's how.
How you can help
Protect a space and a routine
A consistent, quiet, phone-free spot and a regular time each day does more than any amount of nagging. Help them protect it.
Test them with flashcards
Offer to hold the flashcards and ask the questions. You don't need to know the answers — they're on the back. Being tested out loud is exactly what helps it stick.
Praise effort, not just results
Notice the showing-up. "You've sat down three days running" builds the habit more than focusing only on marks, and keeps stress down.
Guard sleep, food and breaks
A rested brain remembers more. Regular meals, proper sleep and short breaks beat late-night cramming every time.
Encourage the right methods
Gently steer them away from just re-reading and highlighting, and towards self-testing and past papers — the techniques that actually work.
Keep perspective
Stay calm and supportive. Your steadiness lowers their anxiety, and a calm student revises far better than a panicked one.
Supporting wellbeing during exams
Exam season can be an anxious time. A calm, supportive home makes a real difference to how your child copes.
Normalise the nerves
Reassure them that feeling nervous is completely normal — it's the body getting ready, not a sign that something is wrong. Reframing nerves this way takes a lot of their power away.
Protect sleep, food and movement
The basics matter most: regular sleep, proper meals, water rather than energy drinks, and some daily fresh air or exercise. A looked-after body thinks and copes far better.
Listen without fixing
Sometimes they just need to be heard. Let them offload without jumping to solutions or adding pressure, and avoid comparisons with siblings or friends.
Watch for the warning signs
Ongoing trouble sleeping, changes in appetite, withdrawal or persistent low mood can mean stress has tipped too far. Check in gently and let them know you're there.
Know where to turn
If you're worried about your child's wellbeing, you don't have to manage it alone — get in touch with their form tutor or the school's pastoral team, who are there to help.
Prep brings calm
The best antidote to worry is feeling prepared. Helping them keep to a steady, realistic plan does more for their nerves than any amount of last-minute cramming.
Resources & downloads
From our parent information evenings on revision. Some links coming soon
A few questions parents often ask
"They say they've revised, but have they?"
Ask them to teach you something, or to answer a few flashcards out loud. If they can explain it without notes, it's gone in. If not, that's the bit to revise next.
"How much should they be doing?"
Little and often is the rule. Several short, focused sessions across the week beat one long one. Quality and consistency matter far more than hours clocked.
"They just re-read their notes for hours."
It feels productive but does little. Encourage self-testing instead — flashcards and past-paper questions where they have to recall the answer.
"They're really anxious about it."
A clear plan reduces anxiety because the unknown shrinks. Help them break it into small daily steps, protect sleep and breaks, and reassure them that steady effort is enough.