What advice would you give your younger self sitting exams?

I was doing mine not too many years ago, so I understand that there’s a lot more pressure these days! I think some people who are a bit older remember it being more ‘turn up and do your best’, but it’s so competitive these days that it can feel like your prospects depend on getting all As. But I’ve known several people who went to Cambridge and didn’t get all As, and my best mate studied medicine at a russell group uni without getting all As. Hopefully you get the marks you’re hoping for, but it’s not the end of the world if you don’t! It’s also intimidating going into your first full-length exam if you haven’t done that before, but you’ll find that once you turn the paper over you won’t notice how much time is going by, and it’ll be done before you know it! The worst bit is just waiting for it to start, but try to stay calm and keep things in perspective. If you really didn’t end up happy with your grades, you could always resit. I have a friend who did that after not getting the marks she needed, and she worked for a year and then went off to study medicine at Cambridge. She was upset at the time, but she’s a doctor now and says that year actually gave her a lot of useful work and life experience that benefitted her at uni. You never know what’s going to happen in life and exams aren’t the be all and end all. All you can do is give it your best go. In terms of what to do tonight, my advice would be to review your notes for your exam tomorrow, and if you feel like you can focus well, then maybe do a bit of a revision for one of your other subjects. That’ll help you feel like you’re prepared. But I wouldn’t do more than a couple hours of revision tonight, and make sure you take some time to relax and maybe watch some tv or read a book or something before bed. Try not to scroll through social media if you can help it because it’s not really a very good distraction and it can make you feel more anxious. If you have trouble sleeping, don’t try to force yourself to sleep, just think about something else, like planning what you’ll do to celebrate once exams are over. I’m normally someone who hates getting up earlier than I have to and I normally don’t eat breakfast, but I’ve found that having a routine that I do before big things like exams or interviews is really helpful — I make sure to get up with enough time to eat breakfast and not be rushed, and I always have smoked salmon and scrambled eggs if I can (because supposedly eating oily fish is good for the brain haha). I know it’s a common thing for athletes to have little routines/rituals that they do before games or competitions and I think it really does help to feel a bit more in control. Good luck!! You’ll smash it, just do your best and try to answer everything even if you’re not sure. And, as I’m sure your dad would say too, don’t forget to check the backs of each page for questions!