Time to recharge?
John A. Good writes in.
06 March 2025
I read with interest the interview with Professor David Putwain in the March edition regarding exam anxiety.
An area not touched on is the timing of exams and the availability of 'down time' for students. In the UK universities that have adopted a semester timetable, the traditional Christmas holidays are no longer a break, but a time of heightened anxiety due to the impending January exams.
There is no substantive break in the academic year anymore. I witnessed these stresses in my two children studying for their Bachelors and myself as a 'mature student' taking a Masters degree: it's no different whether you are in your 20s or 50s!
Perhaps it is time for all the Psychology Heads of School to re-timetable their courses and set tests at the end of term not the end of semester, and thereby allow their students substantive time off at Christmas and Easter to be free of pre-exam worry and have time to connect with family and friends and recharge their batteries.
John A. Good
Visiting Research Fellow
School of Psychology
University of Sussex
