"After not achieving the grades I needed for my university place, I decided to retake some exams- this meant that it was crucial that I perform well this time round. As a naturally anxious person, this worried me a lot, and so a week before my most challenging exam my parents recommended that I speak to Kam about my situation.

 

I explained to him what my main issues were - I was getting thrown off by the more difficult questions, and as a result would struggle with the rest of the paper regardless of whether it was difficult or not! Kam and I then sat down and brainstormed some potential strategies, before discussing another important aspect that was holding me back - confidence in my own ability. He helped me realise that I knew all the content back to front, and by doubting myself and not having confidence in my studying I was locking away all the information I knew, and this was negatively influencing my exam technique. Instead of thinking to myself "this exam is going to be awful" I thought to myself "I have worked so hard for this, and I'm ready to show the examiner everything I know".

 

Having had such a relaxed, motivational chat with Kam, I was ready to take the exam the following week.

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In the exam, I felt nervous, and after opening the paper, the first question was slightly unconventional and atypical. Despite this, I thought back to our chat, and I realised that this did not mean that I lacked the skills to answer the questions. As I moved on through the paper I struggled with questions 2 and 3, and the fact that they were worth a lot of marks made me lose my sense of confidence and I found myself panicking and ready to give up. I decided to leave those questions and complete the questions that I was able to do. After doing these questions I had 40 minutes left to attempt questions 2 and 3. Kam suggested that when unsure about a question, it would be helpful to write down any notes or formulas that could potentially be relevant to the question. It sounds obvious now, but doing this was crucial, as it acted as a mental trigger and allowed me to form a logical train of thought, helping to complete the question. Lastly I was left still struggling with the final question, and remembered an important yet quite humorous thing Kam told me - "you're stuck in there for an hour and a half regardless, so you might as well honour that time by doing everything you can to push on rather than giving up!"

 

I can honestly say that without Kam's help, I probably would have accepted failure after the first question - now, what I considered to be my most challenging exam has become the one I am most confident that I have performed well on!"

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UPDATE: Raya achieved 3A's in her A-levels, including a 93/100 in the paper referenced in this testimonial! She will be going to University of Birmingham to study for a Law degree. An amazing accomplishment! 

/// Raya Nili, 19