With exam season fastly approaching, it is crucial that students take care of their mental health - this can be done with anything from meditating to relaxing. Yet, it is a fact that, as the exams come closer and closer, many students feel like they are under significantly more pressure than they were before, increasing exam stress and mental health problems in students, as a result.

According to a survey conducted by the Association of School and College Leaders, 82% of headteachers had reported stress and enxiety in their school to be higher than pre-pandemic levels. 

As exams have been interrupted and become irregular, this statistic is proof that, as the exams have been changed recently, students have become much more nervous about them. While adjustments have been put in place by exam boards to try and ease the country back into exams, it is undeniable that this has had barely any effect on post-pandemic stress levels, so it is clear that the country requires another solution.

Whether exams are truly a good or bad thing has been a much talked-about debate, particularly in recent years, with people questioning the nature of the GCSE exams, calling them outdated and in need of improvement.

So, to propose the question: are exams really the way forward?

Many think yes due to the fact that rigorous testing can be reflective on one's work ethic in revision, with high grades demonstrating to employers and universities a hard-working, focused individual. Exams are also beneficial as they encourage people to learn the knowledge that is required to be taught to them, so that people can move into their lives with a certain level of comprehension in a particular subject.

However, with the rigorous, unrelenting format of exams, many disagree, believing that the way forward lies in a different kind of testing, and not through answering a group of questions which determine an overall grade.