'I Feel This Panic In My Chest': Even Young Children Are Calling Childline With Exam Stress

"My friends are trying to help get me back on track, but I’m so overwhelmed,” admitted a 16-year-old who got in touch with the free counselling service.

Parents editor at HuffPost UK

It probably won’t come as a surprise that May is the peak season for children to call Childline about exam stress.

Between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026; the free, confidential service for kids delivered 1,679 counselling sessions where exam or revision stress was mentioned.

These sessions peaked in May, coinciding with the start of exam season. There were 359 counselling sessions about exam stress in May 2025, making up 21% of all counselling sessions about the topic.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, GCSEs start in early May, while AS and A Level exams take place from mid-May into June. In Scotland; National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher exams are already underway, finishing on 1 June.

The majority of concerns about exam stress were........

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