‘I felt really alone’: Students across Sheffield suffering with exam stress

Nearly half of students at Sheffield University don’t feel like they had adequate support from the university for exams, according to a ShefNews survey.

One said: “My degree doesn’t have much sympathy for stress and the workload is unmanageable.”

ShefNews surveyed a group of students at the University of Sheffield to find out how they were coping around exam season. 

Over half of the students we asked reported feeling very or extremely stressed, with multiple describing how “fear of failure” had bought on “panic attacks”.

One student, Kate Tonathy, 22, said: “When I was writing my dissertation I found it really stressful. I couldn’t see my boyfriend, my friends and I stopped keeping in touch with my family.” 

A specialist stress, anxiety and depression counsellor who wished to remain nameless, said: “Stress is a part of life. It is important to become acquainted with your own stress symptoms so you can take care of yourself when you feel stressed.”

 “With so much to do and so little time, self-care often goes out of the window during exam periods.”

In order to cope with exam stress students recommend: “Trying to have set times for work and relaxation so that the stress doesn’t creep into my everyday life” 

“Trying to have set times for work and relaxation so that the stress doesn’t creep into my everyday life.

“Yoga or relaxing with friends”

The general themes were that the best ways to cope with stress are to seek support from your friends or relax with exercise. 

Although one quipped: “if you get any suggestions, please let me know” 

The councillor agreed with these suggestions, saying: “But don’t underestimate the benefit a healthy meal or a short walk can do for your body when it’s under stress.

Most of the students surveyed condemned exams as nothing more than “short term memory tests”.

Again this was backed up by the councillor, they said: “My personal opinion is that exams are not a particularly helpful form of assessment in many cases and are still overused and relied on too heavily. I would like to see the shift away from exams move at a faster pace.” 

The University of Sheffield provides a range of mental health services for students, including counselling and therapies as well as 24/7 crisis support.

The university says: “We want our students and staff from all backgrounds, demographics and cultures to thrive and realise their potential. That’s why we’re committed to building a diverse community and an inclusive, supportive and collaborative environment.”