Why I created Exam Reaction Plan
Exam anxiety is a struggle many students face. It’s not just the fear of failing or disappointing others — it’s the overwhelming thoughts and feelings that spiral out of control, leaving students unable to focus or perform at their best.
I’ve seen the toll anxiety takes from working at HMP and I’ve heard countless stories of other students whose anxiety wasn’t caused by a lack of preparation, but by a lack of understanding about how their thoughts created their fear.
That’s what led me to create the Exam Reaction Plan: a structured, practical programme designed to help students take back control by managing the thoughts that drive their anxiety.
How the Exam Reaction Plan Came to Life
The journey to creating the Exam Reaction Plan began with a simple observation —students were often their own worst critics. They’d come into exams well-prepared but still felt overcome by self-doubt and self-judgement.
It was clear that their anxiety wasn’t about the exams themselves but about the stories they were believing of themselves.
To get to the bottom of how to help, I started digging into the root causes of exam anxiety:
- Negative Thought Patterns: Many students didn’t realize how much their self-talk affected their stress levels.
- Fear of the Unknown: Without the right ways to handle the difficult thoughts that came up, I could see students panic.
- Triggers: Because students couldn’t understand what caused their anxiety, they often felt out of control. – and that made them even more vulnerable to fear and worry.
I knew the solution had to focus on their thinking, so they got to see themselves in a different, more positive way and to understand how THEY created the thoughts they had come to believe about themselves.
I built all this into my Exam Reaction Plan, a programme that teaches students to:
- Spot and challenge negative thinking patterns.
- Identify their personal anxiety triggers.
- Use practical exercises to handle fear and self-doubt.
From Overwhelmed to Calm
By sharing structured sessions on how to think and look at their fear (and a range of other Mindful topics too), students can shift from feeling panicky to feeling powerful.
They no longer have to let their unconscious thoughts take control. When they know what triggers set off their fears, they have new ways to handle it. Calm, coping ways to help them work through their feelings and stay in charge.
They learn to make changes to how they are when any challenge up, and in the process they find they have many more options than they thought
That alone can give them more confidence to learn new ways to thinking, being and doing.
Solving the Root Cause
Exam Reaction Plan isn’t just about managing exam-day nerves — it’s about giving students lifelong tools to handle stress, overcome challenges, and approach their exams with confidence.
By digging into the root cause of their anxiety—their thinking—students learn to re-think their fears and to respond more thoughtfully, in a way that works for them and their future.
If you’re an Educator who wants to see students thrive not only in exams but in life, the Exam Reaction Plan offers a way forward. Let’s help our students to turn fear into focus and discover their true potential.
Ready to see the difference this programme can make? Let’s get started!