How to beat exam nerves

It's not just parents who favour Easter revision classes, says Caitlin Davies. Pupils like them too

Now is the time for exam nightmares. You're sitting naked in a vast hall when the invigilator tells you to begin. You open the paper to find all the questions are in Japanese. You wake up in a cold sweat...

Revision courses, however, could stop the fear. They provide a structured way to learn course contentand proper exam technique. And, while they sound more like the invention of over-anxious parents, course providers insist they are usually requested by the students themselves.

"For 99.9 per cent of our students, the decision to do the revision course is theirs," says Gareth Thomas, the course director for Easter revision at Davies Laing and Dick (DLD). "They want to make sure they get an A* at GCSE."

The most popular subject is maths, with 100 DLD students coached in this subject last year. Apart from being one of the most important subjects to do well in at GCSE, Thomas says maths lends itself to revision courses: students arrive at 9am, and 30 minutes later are sitting their first exam.

Many of those who do GCSE revision come back to study for their AS levels, which suggests that parents are getting what they pay for. And revision courses don't come cheap, with a one-week GCSE course in one subject costing at least £300.

Bridget Norton, the registrar at D'Overbroeck's College in Oxford, agrees that the decision to take a course is often made by the student, especially at A level. "The initial inquiry might come from a parent, but there aren't many students who are reluctant."

D'Overbroeck's College offers both residential and non-residential revision courses. The students come from local state and independent schools, and even from abroad. There is also the occasional mature student. At AS and A level, students study two subjects over six days; at GCSE, it's three subjects in five days. The average group size is between six and eight students.

Students at Mander Portman and Woodward (MPW) also take the initiative when it comes to revision courses. Parents are often clueless about the system beyond A2, whereas a student will know that what they need, say, is a one-day course on developmental economics on the ORC board.

Curriculum changes have been good news for those in the revision market, with many students wanting help in the run-up to AS exams. "Students in Year 12 are taking revision courses where previously they stayed at home or went on a skiing holiday," says Dr Nigel Stout, managing director of the MPW group, which has colleges in London, Cambridge and Birmingham. MPW had 560 students in London alone last year, and is able to offer short, board-specific courses. Some classes, such as GCSE combined science, fill up quickly, and the maximum class size is eight.

Class sizes at Abbey College in Manchester are slightly larger, with a maximum of 12 pupils. It offers GCSE maths, English and dual science, with 20 hours tutor contact, for £300. For other subjects, it's 10 hours' tutor time at a cost of £150. The vice-principal, Ben Binns, is expecting about 200 students this year, with the majority aiming for an A or B. "The idea that you cram just to get by doesn't apply any more," he says.

When it comes to exam phobia, students do fine up until February when they suddenly lose confidence. "What any good school does is to take away the mystery of exams," says Binns. "After all, the syllabus is pretty fixed and there is a finite number of questions an examiner can ask." At Abbey, some tutors even help students to overcome exam nerves by teaching them the peaceful art of meditation.