The last push: how to support your child through the final GCSE exams

Welcome to Ms Johnson Says — a calm space for teachers, parents, home educators, unschoolers, and anyone who believes learning should be meaningful, manageable, child-led, and rooted in real life. Here you’ll find reflections, ideas, and resources designed to bring a little more peace and purpose to education.

The end is in sight. For many families, the GCSE exam season is winding down — there might be just one or two papers left, or a handful of days to go. And yet somehow, this final stretch can feel like the hardest part.

Your child is tired. You are tired. The revision notes are dog-eared, the exam timetable has been consulted so many times it's practically falling apart, and everyone in the house is ready for it to be over. That's completely understandable.

Here's what tends to help in these last few days.

Keep the routine, but lighten the load

If your child has been following a revision routine, now is not the time to abandon it entirely — but it is the time to ease off. Cramming intensively the night before a paper rarely improves performance and often increases anxiety. A lighter, focused review of key points, followed by an early night, is almost always more useful.

If they have a paper tomorrow, encourage them to look over their notes briefly, then stop. The knowledge is there. What they need now is sleep and a settled mind more than another two hours of highlighting.

Watch out for comparison conversations

The final weeks of exam season are full of "how did yours go?" conversations between students — in the corridor, in the group chat, everywhere. For some young people this is fine. For others, hearing that a friend "found it really easy" or "wrote loads" can send their anxiety through the roof.

You can't control what their friends say, but you can gently remind your child that everyone experiences exams differently, that perceived performance rarely matches actual results, and that what someone else wrote in their paper has no bearing on how theirs will be marked.

Food, sleep, and fresh air are not optional extras

It sounds basic because it is basic — but it genuinely matters. A student who is sleeping poorly, skipping meals, and sitting inside all day will not perform as well as one who is reasonably rested, reasonably fed, and has had at least a short walk outside.

You don't need to turn this into a wellness lecture. Just make sure there's food in the house that doesn't require effort to eat, that screens go off at a reasonable hour, and that getting outside happens at least once a day, even briefly.

On the morning of an exam

Keep it calm and keep it normal. A familiar breakfast, a realistic departure time that doesn't involve a last-minute rush, and a simple "you've got this" is worth far more than a pep talk or a last-minute quiz.

If your child wants to look at their notes on the way in, let them. If they'd rather listen to music and not talk about it, let them do that instead. Follow their lead rather than imposing a pre-exam routine that works for you but not for them.

What to say when they come out

After the paper, most students want one of two things: either to talk through every question in detail, or to never speak of it again. Ask which one they need rather than assuming.

If they want to talk, listen without catastrophising. If they say they think they did badly, avoid immediately reassuring them that they definitely didn't — it can feel dismissive. Instead, acknowledge it was hard, remind them that one paper is one paper, and then move on to something entirely unrelated.

The most important thing you can do in these final days is simply be steady. Your child is almost there. So are you.

The finish line is close — and you're both going to cross it.