Exams are coming up in January, which can be a worrying and demanding time for many students. But there’s no need to panic; get your preparation right and use the right tools and resources and you’ll be on the right track.

We like this exam hints and tips article from the Independent. It’s talking about Easter exams, but that doesn’t matter, the ideas will work equally well in January! There’s lots of great tips here about organising and looking after yourself during in the run up to the exam season.

You should also think about eating healthily to carry you through your exams. Healthy eating doesn’t have to mean lengthy preparation and you can get some great and quick ideas from the Beyond Baked Beans student food website.

It might also be useful to you to know what tools and resources are available to help you with your exam preparation:

You might find that the Library Gateway useful. This online resource brings together all the different search tools you might need to find your way round the physical and electronic collections in the SHU library and you can find it at: http://library.shu.ac.uk

You can also access subject guides to introduce students to the books, journal articles and news items relevant to their subject area. You’ll find this at: http://library.shu.ac.uk/subjectguides.html

Another service offered through the learning centres are the Study Skills sessions. There are specific sessions to help you with a wide range of study related subjects including Exam Preparation sessions which are running on 9 and 11 December. There are also drop-in and one-to-one sessions if you want to have a draft of an assignment looked at, or just need some general help with your academic work. Look on Shuspace here for more details.

You’ll also find the Academic Skills blog is a really useful source of information on success in academic work. For example, the most recent article on this blog is looking at how to structure an assignment, a skill you can take with you into an exam situation. The blog supports The Study Skills Toolkit, a Sheffield Hallam University online resource to develop your academic and study skills. You can view this blog at: https://blogs.shu.ac.uk/academicskills

Finally, the Student Wellbeing service can offer you lots of support around dealing with stress. They have self-help resources available and can also see you in a one-to-one or a group setting. They also run group sessions on areas such as mindfulness and relaxation which many people find helpful. You can find out more on Shuspace here.

We hope this is useful for you and will help you to feel prepared as we move towards the January exams. If you have any particular worries or concerns about exams, please feel free to come and speak to your Student Support Officer via your faculty helpdesk or an Advice and Information Adviser at one of our drop-in sessions. These run Monday to Friday at both City and Collegiate campuses. You can check Shuspace for daily times here.

Remember, stay calm and start preparing!