Many of you will be in the throes of GCSE’s or A Level exams right now. You may have noticed you have tried eyes so here are some tips to keep your eyes fresh and comfortable when you have been revising and concentrating for long periods of time.

Take A Break

Even though you might feel you need to spend every possible moment revising, you and your eyes do need a break. Every hour or so, try to get 10 or 20 mins break. For your eyes, the best way to relax is to look further away.  It may be tempting and easy to ‘switch off’ by scrolling through your phone or playing on a device, but this is actually still making your eyes put in effort to focus. Instead, have a chat with someone, go for a walk or even watch TV as it will be further away from you than the paper or computer on your desk. This will help to relax your eyes.

Getting outside, in the garden or the park, just being in nature is proven to also reduce stress so this could be a really good opportunity to refresh yourself and eyes before going back to your revision.

Before The Exam

Of course, you will have revised everything you could have up to this point but also try to make sure you have had a good amount of sleep before your exam. You will have to concentrate for a long period of time without a break in most cases and tiredness can make it harder for your eyes to keep focusing well and also could mean you lose concentration more easily. You may also experience tired eyes.

Sleep helps your body, brain and eyes heal and everything works better when you’re rested. Your memory will be better as well as your mood and focus.

If you wear glasses make sure you’ve got the right pair PLUS any spares ready so you know where they are if needed. The last thing you want is extra stress from not being able to locate a spare pair if your glasses break or you can’t find them. Make sure they’re clean. Take a cloth with you into your exam so that you can see clearly and read the questions accurately.

If you suffer with hayfever make sure you’ve taken your medication or eye drops so that this doesn’t stop you seeing well or stop you concentrating.

If you’ve noticed your eyes are feeling dry, gritty or irritated, this is common when you concentrate for long periods of time. You may find that an eye drop to moisten your eyes helps with this over this exam period.

On The Day

Breathe, take your glasses with you (and cleaning cloth), use your eyedrops if needed and do your best!

To de-stress after your exam get out in nature again, do an activity and have a great nights sleep before starting preparation for the next one! Good Luck from us all!