How Chinese Students Tackle Exam Pressure and Stress

The days and hours leading up to an exam sitting can be quite frustrating. Students experience so much tension that can impact negatively on their performance. With this in mind, students have come up with different ways of dealing with this stress.

On May 22, 2016, senior high school students at No. 2 High School in Hengshui, North China,  played with balloons to decrease the level of stress before they sat for the college entrance examination which was scheduled for June 7.

Elsewhere, senior high school students at Fangshan high school wrote their expectations for the approaching college entrance examinations on balloons in their classrooms. This was also aimed at making them more relaxed and less tensed. This was done on May 19, 2016. On that same day, 12th graders of this same school massaged each other in the middle of their preparation for the examination. This also had a relaxation effect.

In Dingyuan High School, the students were engaged in an arm wrestling contest with teachers to ease the tension ahead of the dreaded examinations. These students also played different games during break time to relax themselves.

Zheng Dong a student in Shanghai studies in a hotel room near the location where his exams are held. Over in the capital Beijing taxi drivers are offered to give students free rides so that they can attend their tests.

At No.1 High School of Wenxian County, 12th graders threw airplanes made out of paper as they prepared for the entrance exams. Students in this school also held discussions which seemed to be more interesting and relaxing compared to individual reading.

These students took oxygen while studying chemistry at a hospital in Suining.