How to help students under pressure Support for OU students from friends and family

All OU modules have some sort of assessment at the end, but not every module has an exam. Instead, some students have an end-of-module assessment (EMA). This is like an extended assignment and can also be quite stressful.

Students who do have an exam need time to revise and plenty of encouragement when it all seems overwhelming.

You can help by understanding that students:

• need to allocate more study time for the two or three weeks before the exam, so this extra time may need to be agreed between you
• feel anxious and nervous on the day of the exam, and perhaps in the weeks before
• may or may not wish to talk about the exam afterwards
• appreciate support when their results arrive.

Students on apprenticeship programmes also gather work-based evidence of their skills, knowledge, and behaviours against industry standards. In England, apprentices must take an end-point assessment (EPA) which can happen after the award for their academic qualification.

Exams

When it comes to exams, students can be under a lot of pressure. Give them the space and time to revise. They’ll need to spend extra time on revision, so help out wherever you can. Remind them to make use of the information in Revision and Managing stress.

Exams are taken at home, or another location of the student's choice, using their own computer, stationery and equipment. Exams are not taken at an exam centre. If your student is intending to do their exam at home, you'll need to give them the time and space to complete it, helping to keep the house quiet and ensuring there are no interruptions.

What insights can students and their families offer about dealing with exams?

Student views

I had to concentrate on revising for the exam so that meant no contribution to washing-up, shopping or cleaning for two weeks. It was chaotic but we all survived.

We went out for a family celebration once the results arrived.

Family views

He couldn't think about anything except revision for two weeks before the exam. It was hard to focus on family things.