How Staying Calm Can Help You Smash Your Exams

(Yes, It’s a Skill — and Yes, You Can Train It)

Let’s set the scene. You walk into the exam room. Fluorescent lights. Cold desks. The eerie silence of a hundred pens waiting to be uncapped. Maybe there’s someone nervously tapping their foot. Maybe your heart’s already trying to beat its way out of your chest. Sound familiar?

Whether it’s your final English essay or a three-hour maths marathon, how calm you are during the exam can be just as important as how well you’ve studied. And here’s the kicker — staying calm isn’t about pretending the exam doesn’t matter. It’s about keeping your head clear so you can perform at your best because it matters.

So, here are seven reasons why staying calm might be one of the best exam strategies you can learn this year — and how it can help you think clearer, write smarter, and maybe even surprise yourself.

1. A Calm Brain Thinks Better

This one’s straight from the neuroscience files. When you're stressed, your amygdala — the brain’s emotional alarm bell — goes into overdrive. And when that happens, your prefrontal cortex (the bit you really want online during an exam) starts to power down. Translation? You literally can’t think as clearly when you're panicking. Staying calm keeps the part of your brain responsible for planning, recalling, problem-solving, and creative thinking switched on. And that’s kind of important when you're facing Question 17 of 20 with twenty minutes to go.

2. Panic Eats Up Time

When you're anxious, you’re more likely to second-guess yourself, re-read the same sentence three times, or waste minutes flipping through the paper trying to decide where to start. Staying calm helps you use your time wisely. You can make a plan, stick to it, and move through the paper with focus — not with fear.

3. It Helps You Bounce Back From Mistakes

Let’s say you forget something. Or your first answer doesn’t make sense. Or you look at a question and feel your stomach do a somersault. If you're calm, you’ll be able to pause, take a breath, and reset. Without calm? Cue the spiral: “I’ve stuffed it, I’ve ruined everything, it’s all over.” But one tricky question doesn’t wreck an exam. A calm mindset helps you move on and salvage marks where it counts.

4. You’ll Read Questions Properly (Which Is Half the Battle)

Stress messes with your attention span. That’s why it’s so easy to misread a question, skip a key word, or accidentally answer what you think it says instead of what it actually says. Staying calm helps you stay present. You slow down, you take in the detail, and you avoid the kind of mistakes that start with “I can’t believe I didn’t see that.”

5. You’re More Likely to Finish the Paper

Some students freeze halfway through. Others rush to the end and realise their answers aren’t complete. Staying calm helps you pace yourself. It’s not about racing — it’s about keeping a steady rhythm so you can write as well in the last ten minutes as you did in the first.

6. Calm = Confidence (Even If You Have to Fake It)

Staying calm doesn’t mean you feel 100% confident. But it looks and feels a lot like confidence — and that can be enough to steady the ship. When you breathe deeply, sit tall, and focus on one step at a time, you send signals to your brain that say: “I’ve got this.” Even if you're not sure you do (yet).

7. It Makes the Whole Experience Less Miserable

Let’s be honest — exams aren’t most people’s idea of fun. But they don’t have to be torture either. Walking into the room with a calm mindset — knowing you’ve prepared, and trusting yourself to handle what’s on the page — can make the whole process feel manageable. Not easy. Not magical. But manageable.

In Conclusion: Calm is a Skill — Not a Personality Trait

You don’t have to be naturally chill to stay calm in an exam. You just have to practise. Try breathing techniques, positive self-talk, visualising success, or simply repeating to yourself: “I’ve done the work. I’m ready to show what I know.” And if you mess up a bit? That’s okay too. Staying calm means you can recover — regroup — and keep going. Because that’s what success in Year 12 is really about. Not perfection. Just persistence, strategy, and self-belief (with maybe a few deep breaths thrown in for good measure). So next time you sit down at one of those scratchy plastic desks, remind yourself:

Stay calm. Trust your prep. Back yourself.

You've got this.

This blog post was created by Felstead Education. We deliver a range wellbeing programs for students and study skills programs specially designed for senior high school students. Our programs are based on the principle that having a healthy mind and a healthy body, combined with strong study skills, helps students to achieve at their personal best, whatever that best may be. Some of our programs include The Power of Sleep, Study Calm, The Serene Student, Secrets of Study Success and Mindfulness for Senior Students.

To find out more about how we can help your students to be well and do well, visit us at www.felstead.com.au or email: info@felstead.com.au