NO MORE EXAMS!! Whilst some are cartwheeling in delight others are apprehensive about what the future holds.  Here we share some valuable advice from Natasha Devon MBE, mental health campaigner, exam expert, columnist and author.

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“Exams are a stressful time for anyone, but the uncertainty and stress which has been added to the mix by the COVID_19 virus has made this year especially pressured for young people. Below are some tips to help young people and their parents cope”

• Lots of people are concerned their university, college or apprentice places are conditional on getting certain grades, but remember there’s approximately 1.3 million 16 year olds and three quarters of a million 18 year olds in exactly the same boat. Allowances will have to be made and protocols will have to change – Universities and colleges won’t want to be empty for a year and employers are usually more concerned with your skills than your grades.
• There will be exams in the future – maybe not now or this year but at some stage. See this as an opportunity: You now have more time to revise and prepare, which gives you an advantage over previous years. You now have time to read and digest Yes You Can!
• There’s a balance to be struck between being informed and overwhelming yourself with news. Pick one trusted source of information and check in once or twice daily to see what the latest Coronavirus status and advice is. Lots of people and outlets are spewing out contradictory information and conspiracy theories and they’re likely to make you feel panicked. Mute any words associated with the virus in your feed on Twitter, or stick to picture-based apps like Instagram.
• You’re going to be seeing less of your friends face-to-face but you can schedule in FaceTime sessions or even Google Hangouts if there are more than two of you so you can feel connected to them
• Call your elderly relatives. They’ll appreciate it and doing something good for others has been shown in numerous studies to give us a mental health boost.
• Recognise that added stress means you’ll likely need to take a little more time for self-care each day. My book contains more than twenty suggestions for ‘stress-bucket emptying’; activities you can do: Many of which don’t involve leaving the house.

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YES YOU CAN ACE YOUR EXAMS WITHOUT LOSING YOUR MIND (Macmillan, PB £9.99) publishes on 2^nd April 2020.

An empowering guide for all students on how to approach exams while nurturing mental health. YES YOU CAN provides holistic, realistic advice enabling exam-takers to thrive thanks to expert research, personal experience and reader interaction.