More than a million pupils are suffering GCSE & A-level stress

More than one million pupils taking their GCSE, AS and A-level exams this summer are facing more stress than ever before, according to an exams expert.

George Turnbull, the official "exams doctor" appointed by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, the Government's exams watchdog, said: "Examinations are much more taxing. [Pupils] get pressure to do well from their schools because the schools themselves depend on good results to do well in the league tables."

Mr Turnbull has been given the task of being "Dr A-level" and "Dr GCSE", answering any questions on exams put by pupils and their parents. His advice to mothers and fathers during the examination period is: "Parents should be seen and not heard."

"Even if you think your child is not studying hard enough and should not be going out for an extra night, it is generally not the best thing to have an argument about it. That only increases stress," he said.

Quiet support with the odd cup of tea is more likely to be helpful.

Typical of the questions that have come from pupils is that from a youngster who asked how he could juggle a relationship with a new girlfriend with studying for his exams.

"I always say: keep time for revision and relaxing separate," he said. "If you get up half an hour earlier every day, that gives you two and a half hours' extra study time a week - enough time for an extra night off."

His advice worked: the pupil wrote to him after the exams to say he had got excellent results and still had the same girlfriend.

Mr Turnbull also gave tips for those who put off the evil hour when they start their studies of an evening. "Shutting yourself away in a room for three hours is not necessarily the best way to revise," he said. "You may find you haven't taken anything in. Tell yourself you'll do 10 minutes of hard study then have a 10-minute break, then do 10 minutes again of each.

"You'll find you start learning something and then gradually increase the 10 minutes for work and reduce the 10-minute break."

Other common questions include: "Can mobile phones be taken into the exam room, as long as they are switched off?"

The answer? "Only if you want to be disqualified. The only things allowed in the room are the things you need for the exam. All books and personal belongings, such as MP3 players and the like, or pieces of paper with notes on them, must not be taken into the room.

"Be sure you stick to the rules and don't be tempted to break any of them. If unsure what they are, then check with your teacher."

'My mum was pushing me much harder than the teachers were'

Tessa Pannack, 17, from Chessington in south-west London is doing three AS-levels. "At college they just leave you to get on with it," she said. "It has been a panic to get it all done. My mum was constantly pushing me to get my work done, more than the teachers."

Her friend Polly Leigh, 17, from Long Ditton in Surrey, is also doing AS levels. "It was more my parents putting pressure on me to get on with my revision. It was a constant worry - I knew I should be revising but I didn't want to. I got through it all with lots of tea."

Further help: Email your questions to examsdoctor@qca.org.uk