Exam Stress Statistics 2026: Insights From 1,000+ UK Students

Last updated

27 September 2026

Contents

Exam Stress in the UK: An Overview

Exam stress is the worry, pressure or anxiety students experience before, during or after exams. Some exam nerves are normal, but exam stress can become harder to manage when it affects a student's sleep, concentration, mood, or physical wellbeing.

The 2026 Save My Exams Exam Stress Survey found that 90.5% of 1,288 UK-based students had experienced exam stress or anxiety in the previous 12 months. More than eight in ten said they experienced it sometimes or always.

Exam stress can have different causes and effects for different students. Our survey explores how often students experience it, what causes it, the symptoms they report, how they cope and whether they feel they receive enough support. It also looks at exam results stress and differences between groups of students.

If exam stress or anxiety is becoming difficult to manage, support is available from your school or college, GP, Childline (opens in a new tab), YoungMinds (opens in a new tab) or Samaritans (opens in a new tab).

Key Takeaways

The 2026 Save My Exams Exam Stress Survey of 1,288 UK-based students found:

91% had experienced exam stress or anxiety in the previous 12 months.
83% felt moderately, very or extremely anxious about receiving their exam results.
79% said their own expectations contributed to their exam stress, making this the most commonly selected cause.
59% experienced difficulty concentrating when experiencing exam stress, while 45% reported trouble sleeping.
71% had not sought help or support for managing exam stress.
96% of female respondents had experienced exam stress or anxiety in the previous 12 months, compared with 83% of male respondents.

UK Student Exam Stress: Primary Data

The 2026 Save My Exams Exam Stress Survey asked 1,288 UK-based students about their experiences of exam stress and anxiety, including its causes, symptoms, and impact; the support they receive; and how they feel about their exam results.

Who we surveyed: Student demographics

The survey included students at different ages and stages of secondary and further education across the UK.

1,288 UK-based students took part in the survey.
746 respondents (58%) were aged 15–16 and 432 (34%) were aged 17–18. A further 93 (7%) selected “Under 15”.
782 respondents (61%) identified as female and 474 (37%) as male. The remaining respondents selected another gender identity or preferred not to say.
620 respondents (48%) were studying AS or A Levels and 559 (43%) were studying GCSEs. The sample also included students studying IGCSEs, IB and other qualifications.
Students responded from across the UK, although the regional sample was uneven. 498 respondents (39%) were from London, with smaller samples from other regions and nations.

Note: Findings in this article describe the students who responded to the Save My Exams survey and should not be interpreted as nationally representative estimates of all UK students.

How many UK students experience exam stress and how often?

The 2026 Save My Exams Exam Stress Survey found that 90.5% of respondents had experienced exam stress or anxiety in the past 12 months.

When asked how often they experienced exam stress or anxiety:

53.4% said sometimes
32.4% said always
12.0% said rarely
2.3% said never

Overall, 85.8% of students said they experienced exam stress sometimes or always.

There were also differences between groups:

96.0% of female respondents had experienced exam stress in the past year, compared with 82.9% of male respondents
94.4% of 17–18-year-olds reported exam stress, compared with 90.8% of 15–16-year-olds and 75.3% of respondents under 15
92.3% of AS/A Level students reported exam stress, compared with 89.4% of GCSE students

Female respondents were also more likely to say they experienced exam stress sometimes or always: 92.5% compared with 75.7% of male respondents.

How does exam stress affect students?

Students reported a range of exam stress symptoms that affected concentration, sleep, mood and physical wellbeing. Difficulty concentrating was the most commonly reported effect in the 2026 Save My Exams Exam Stress Survey.

Exam stress symptom	Students reporting it
Difficulty concentrating	59.0%
Trouble sleeping	45.0%
Irritability	38.0%
Crying	37.5%
Headaches	34.8%
Feeling sick	31.4%
Panic attacks	19.8%

Some of the largest differences in exam anxiety symptoms were between female and male respondents:

53.3% of female respondents reported trouble sleeping, compared with 32.5% of male respondents
55.6% of female respondents reported crying, compared with 8.0% of male respondents
24.7% of female respondents reported panic attacks, compared with 11.0% of male respondents
62.4% of female respondents reported difficulty concentrating, compared with 53.6% of male respondents

What causes exam stress and how do students manage it?

Students could select more than one cause of exam stress in the 2026 Save My Exams Exam Stress Survey. Their own expectations were the most commonly selected factor.

The most common causes were:

79.0% said their own expectations
73.4% worried about getting into university or achieving their future plans
63.5% said the amount of content they needed to revise
55.4% said they did not feel prepared
42.6% cited their past exam results
36.3% reported pressure from parents or carers
25.5% reported pressure from teachers or their school

The findings varied by age. 51.6% of respondents under 15 selected pressure from parents or carers, compared with 37.7% of 15–16-year-olds and 31.0% of 17–18-year-olds. Worry about university or future plans was selected by 80.1% of 17–18-year-olds, compared with 71.2% of 15–16-year-olds and 65.6% of those under 15.

Students also identified particular subjects as causes of exam stress. The subjects most commonly selected were:

45.5% Maths
41.6% Chemistry
38.8% Biology
33.9% English Literature
33.1% Physics
30.4% English Language
13.4% History
12.4% Geography
10.4% Languages
10.3% Science

Maths showed a notable difference by qualification: 54.9% of GCSE students selected Maths as a subject that caused them exam stress or anxiety, compared with 36.5% of AS/A Level students.

How do students manage exam stress?

Talking to other people was the most common way students said they managed their exam stress and anxiety:

54.5% talked to friends or loved ones
42.7% used physical exercise
27.7% used breathing exercises
16.7% took relaxing baths
12.4% used vitamins or supplements
11.2% used counselling or talking therapy

Revision resources were also widely used. 98.0% of respondents said they used revision resources to help them prepare for exams.

Among all 1,288 students surveyed:

96.4% used online revision websites
74.7% used revision guides or books
29.6% used a private tutor
14.3% received revision support from parents

Are students getting support with exam stress?

Most students surveyed had not sought help or support to manage their exam stress. In the 2026 Save My Exams Exam Stress Survey:

70.9% said they had not sought help
29.1% said they had sought help

Students were also asked whether they felt their school or college gave them enough support to manage exam stress and anxiety:

41.5% agreed or strongly agreed that they received enough support
24.6% disagreed or strongly disagreed
33.9% neither agreed nor disagreed

Views differed between female and male respondents. 36.1% of female respondents agreed or strongly agreed that their school or college provided enough support, compared with 51.5% of male respondents.

Exam results stress: Are students anxious about receiving their results?

Exam stress and anxiety can also continue while students wait for their results. The 2026 Save My Exams Exam Stress Survey found that 82.5% of respondents felt moderately, very or extremely anxious about receiving their exam results.

Students described their level of exam result anxiety as:

30.7% very anxious
27.8% moderately anxious
23.9% extremely anxious
14.7% slightly anxious
2.9% not at all anxious

Combined, 54.7% of students surveyed felt very or extremely anxious about receiving their results.

Results anxiety also differed by gender. 86.6% of female respondents felt moderately, very or extremely anxious about receiving their results, compared with 75.9% of male respondents.

What National Research Says About Exam Stress

Exam anxiety prevalence

The findings of the 2026 Save My Exams Exam Stress Survey sit alongside other recent research showing that exam stress and anxiety are common among secondary school students.

A 2026 National Education Union (NEU) survey (opens in a new tab) of 9,793 teachers found that 99% of secondary teachers had witnessed exam anxiety among their students, with 72% saying they saw it regularly. These figures reflect teachers' observations rather than the proportion of individual students experiencing exam anxiety.

Research from (opens in a new tab)YoungMinds (opens in a new tab), based on a 2025 Savanta survey of 1,040 students aged 15–18 taking GCSEs or A Levels, found that 63% said they struggled to cope in the lead-up to and during their exams. Among those who struggled to cope, 61% experienced anxiety and 56% had trouble sleeping.

A separate 2026 Save My Exams Student Mental Health Survey of 2,097 UK students found that:

71% identified exam weeks as a time when they felt most stressed or anxious
57% selected the revision period
36% selected results day
Just 4% said they did not tend to feel stressed or anxious at any point in the academic year

These studies measure exam stress and anxiety in different ways, so their percentages should not be compared directly. Together, they provide recent evidence from students and teachers that exam periods are a common source of stress and anxiety.

Demand for Support Services

Demand for counselling and support services

Childline, the NSPCC's free support service for children and young people, reports that demand for help with exam and revision stress rises during exam season (opens in a new tab).

Between April 2024 and March 2025, Childline delivered 1,647 counselling sessions where a young person mentioned exam or revision stress, an average of 137 sessions per month (NSPCC).

359 counselling sessions about exam or revision stress took place in May 2024, more than two and a half times the monthly average
50% of sessions where age was known involved young people aged 12–15
39% involved young people aged 16–18
11% involved children aged 11 or under

Young people contacting Childline described pressures including their own expectations, pressure from parents and family, difficulty balancing revision with other parts of their lives, and losing sleep over exams.

Exam access arrangements

Access arrangements are adjustments that allow students with specific needs to take exams without changing what is being assessed.

In the 2024/25 academic year, Ofqual estimated that (opens in a new tab)between 18.0% and 27.7% of students taking at least one GCSE, AS or A Level in England had at least one access arrangement available to them (opens in a new tab). This represents between 256,790 and 394,785 students.

25% extra time was the most common access arrangement, available to an estimated 16.6% to 25.5% of students. This was equivalent to between 237,185 and 363,820 students.

The ranges reflect uncertainty in matching access-arrangement records to the students who took exams. Ofqual classifies these figures as official statistics in development.

School and NHS mental health provision

Mental health support is becoming more widely available in schools and colleges in England. Department for Education figures published in June 2026 (opens in a new tab) show that:

Nearly 6 million children and young people can access mental health support through their school or college
Mental Health Support Teams are working in almost 11,800 schools and colleges
This represents around 800,000 more pupils with access to support than the previous year
9 in 10 schools and colleges working with a Mental Health Support Team say it has improved pupils' mental health and wellbeing

Some of this support specifically addresses pressures that can intensify during exam season. In May 2025, NHS England reported that more than 250,000 students aged 16–18 had received help from Mental Health Support Teams (opens in a new tab) for issues including anxiety and sleep difficulties, which can be exacerbated by exams.

At the time, NHS clinicians were providing support in almost 600 colleges and sixth-form centres, including one-to-one support, workshops and training for teachers.

Exams, Assessment and Reform

Assessment structure and exam reform

Concerns about exam stress have also formed part of the debate about how students are assessed in England.

The government's Curriculum and Assessment Review (opens in a new tab), published in November 2025, reported that among students who took Key Stage 4 exams or assessments in summer 2024:

41% found it difficult to cope with stress during the exam period
A further 10% found it very difficult
26% took 10 or more qualifications at Key Stage 4

The review recommended reducing the overall volume of GCSE exam time by at least 10%, while retaining exams as an important part of the assessment system.

Academic pressure may also be associated with longer-term effects on wellbeing. A 2026 study led by UCL researchers (opens in a new tab) followed 4,714 young people and found that higher academic pressure at age 15 was associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms from ages 16 to 22. Each one-point increase on the study's academic-pressure scale was also associated with 8% higher odds of self-harm.

The researchers stressed that the study was observational, so it cannot show that academic pressure caused these outcomes. The participants were also aged 15 in 2006–07, meaning the findings reflect the experiences of an earlier cohort.

Calls for assessment reform are also reflected in more recent student research. In its 2025 survey, YoungMinds found that 55% of students aged 15–18 said exams had a significant negative impact on their mental health, while 74% thought exams should be reformed to improve young people's mental health (opens in a new tab).

Appendix: Full list of exam stress statistics

The following statistics come from the 2026 Save My Exams Exam Stress Survey of 1,288 UK-based students, unless another source is stated.

How common is exam stress?

90.5% of students had experienced exam stress or anxiety in the past year.
53.4% said they sometimes feel stressed or anxious about exams.
32.4% said they always feel stressed or anxious about exams.
12.0% said they rarely experience exam stress or anxiety.
2.3% said they never experience it.
Overall, 85.8% said they sometimes or always feel stressed or anxious about exams.
96.0% of female students reported exam stress or anxiety in the past year, compared with 82.9% of male students.
94.4% of students aged 17–18 reported exam stress or anxiety, compared with 90.8% of 15–16-year-olds and 75.3% of students under 15.
92.3% of AS/A Level students reported exam stress or anxiety, compared with 89.4% of GCSE students.

Symptoms of exam stress

59.0% reported difficulty concentrating.
45.0% reported trouble sleeping.
38.0% reported irritability.
37.5% reported crying.
34.8% reported headaches.
31.4% reported feeling sick.
19.8% reported panic attacks.

Causes of exam stress

79.0% selected their own expectations as a cause of exam stress.
73.4% selected worries about university or their future.
63.5% selected the amount of content they needed to learn.
55.4% selected feeling unprepared.
42.6% selected past exam results.
36.3% selected pressure from parents or carers.
25.5% selected pressure from teachers or school.

Most stressful subjects

45.5% selected Maths.
41.6% selected Chemistry.
38.8% selected Biology.
33.9% selected English Literature.
33.1% selected Physics
30.4% English Language
13.4% History
12.4% Geography
10.4% Languages
10.3% Science
54.9% of GCSE students selected Maths, compared with 36.5% of AS/A Level students.

Coping with exam stress

54.5% selected spending time with friends or loved ones.
42.7% selected exercise.
27.7% selected breathing exercises.
16.7% selected relaxing baths.
12.4% selected vitamins or supplements.
11.2% selected counselling or talking therapy.
98.0% used revision resources to prepare for exams.
96.4% used online revision websites.
74.7% used books or revision guides.
29.6% used a private tutor.
14.3% used support from a parent.

Getting support

70.9% had not sought help for exam stress or anxiety.
29.1% had sought help.
41.5% agreed or strongly agreed that their school provided enough support for exam stress.
24.6% disagreed or strongly disagreed.
33.9% neither agreed nor disagreed.
36.1% of female students agreed or strongly agreed that their school provided enough support, compared with 51.5% of male students.

Exam results stress

82.5% felt moderately, very or extremely anxious about receiving exam results.
30.7% felt very anxious.
27.8% felt moderately anxious.
23.9% felt extremely anxious.
14.7% felt slightly anxious.
2.9% did not feel anxious at all.
54.7% felt very or extremely anxious.
86.6% of female students reported moderate to extreme results anxiety, compared with 75.9% of male students.

Secondary exam stress statistics

National Education Union, 2026 (opens in a new tab)

99% of secondary teachers surveyed said they had witnessed exam anxiety among students
72% said they saw exam anxiety regularly

YoungMinds, 2025 (opens in a new tab)

Survey of 1,040 15–18-year-olds taking GCSEs or A Levels

63% said they struggled to cope in the lead-up to and during their exams
Among those students, 61% experienced anxiety and 56% had trouble sleeping
55% said exams had a significant negative impact on their mental health
74% thought exams should be reformed to improve young people's mental health

Save My Exams Student Mental Health Survey, 2026

Survey of 2,097 UK students

71% selected exam weeks as a time when they felt most stressed or anxious
57% selected the revision period
36% selected results day
4% said they did not tend to feel stressed or anxious at any point in the academic year

NSPCC/Childline, 2025 (opens in a new tab)

Childline delivered 1,647 counselling sessions mentioning exam or revision stress between April 2024 and March 2025
This was an average of 137 sessions per month
359 sessions took place in May 2024
Where age was known, 50% involved 12–15-year-olds, 39% involved 16–18-year-olds and 11% involved children aged 11 or under

Ofqual, 2025 (opens in a new tab)

An estimated 18.0%–27.7% of students taking at least one GCSE, AS or A Level in England in 2024/25 had at least one access arrangement available to them
This was equivalent to an estimated 256,790–394,785 students
25% extra time was the most common access arrangement
It was available to an estimated 16.6%–25.5% of students, or 237,185–363,820 students

Department for Education, 2026 (opens in a new tab)

Nearly 6 million children and young people could access mental health support through their school or college in England
Mental Health Support Teams were working in almost 11,800 schools and colleges
Around 800,000 more pupils had access to support than in the previous year
9 in 10 schools and colleges working with a Mental Health Support Team said it had improved pupils' mental health and wellbeing

NHS England, 2025 (opens in a new tab)

More than 250,000 students aged 16–18 had received support from Mental Health Support Teams for issues including anxiety and sleep difficulties
NHS clinicians were providing support in almost 600 colleges and sixth-form centres

Curriculum and Assessment Review, 2025 (opens in a new tab)

41% of students who took Key Stage 4 exams or assessments in summer 2024 found it difficult to cope with exam-period stress
A further 10% found it very difficult
26% took 10 or more Key Stage 4 qualifications
The review recommended reducing overall GCSE exam assessment by at least 10%

UCL, 2026 (opens in a new tab)

A longitudinal study followed 4,714 young people
Each one-point increase in academic pressure at age 15 was associated with 8% higher odds of self-harm

References:

Childline (opens in a new tab)
Samaritans (opens in a new tab)
Young Minds (opens in a new tab)
State of education: Mental health | National Education Union (opens in a new tab)
Suicidal thoughts and self-harm from pressured exams | Young Minds (opens in a new tab)
Student Mental Health Statistics 2026: Insights from 2,000+ UK Students | Save My Exams
Rise in calls to Childline about exam and revision stress during the exam period last year | NSPCC (opens in a new tab)
Access arrangements for GCSE, AS and A level: 2024 to 2025 academic year - (opens in a new tab)GOV.UK (opens in a new tab)
Record numbers of children with mental health support in schools - (opens in a new tab)GOV.UK (opens in a new tab)
NHS teams helping pupils manage stress ahead of exam season (opens in a new tab)
Curriculum and Assessment Review Final Report - (opens in a new tab)GOV.UK (opens in a new tab)
Academic pressure linked to increased risk of depression in teens | UCL News (opens in a new tab)

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