China’s national college entrance exams, known as the “gaokao, finished earlier this week.
Crowds of parents gathered outside exam centres with sunflowers – which symbolise their hopes for academic success – while teachers high-fived students as they left exam halls.
They are widely regarded by the international media as the toughest exams in the world with nine hours of testing spread over two or three days.
Our only question is: have they not heard of the Leaving Cert?
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Today, thousands of students sat an intensive French exam followed by a gruelling history exam. That wasn’t unusual: most candidates face two three-hour exams on multiple days over the course of the Leaving. A very small number, on occasion, have had three exams in a single day due to subject clashes.
It’s around now, in particular, that students may be feeling the emotional and physical toll of it all.
The State Examinations Commission says it is mindful of “candidate wellbeing” and has extended the exam timetable in recent years to a 15-day timetable.
“The extended timetable has been designed to alleviate pressure on candidates by eliminating subject clashes as much as possible,” it says. “There has been a very particular focus on ensuring that there is a minimal chance that a candidate will have to take three examinations on one day.”
The only bright spot on the horizon is that Leaving Cert reforms, due to roll out over the coming years, will result in fewer exams and more continual assessment.
Too late, unfortunately, for the class of 2025.
The best advice for students for now is to maintain a healthy routine: get enough sleep, eat well, stay active and taking regular breaks.
My colleague Jen Hogan has gathered some very good advice from the experts, such as focusing on the effort and not the outcomes.
For parents, the best advice is to keep being the calm in the storm; encourage short-term focus; celebrate the small wins; and remind them that there are many, many routes to success beyond the Leaving Cert.
