The key purpose of this lesson is to create a space where students feel that what they are experiencing around exams and marks is normal and shared, and something that can be talked about openly and honestly. For many students, exam stress is something they carry silently, convinced that everyone else is studying better, coping better, and scoring better than they are.
This lesson names such experiences out loud while establishing shared language, trust, and an honest baseline. Students are able to feel comfort once they learn that they are not alone in what they are going through, and are able to learn tools to help them navigate exams, performance pressure and stress.
*This particular lesson is designed for higher and senior secondary school students in India navigating the pressures of board examinations, including the Class X and Class XII boards, and competitive entrance tests such as JEE, NEET, CUET, state-level examinations, and more. However, the lesson can also be delivered to middle school students who regularly face the pressure of performing well in every exam.
Students in secondary schools, particularly in rural, semi-urban, and disadvantaged urban settings, may carry stressors that go far beyond academic pressure, such as financial hardship at home, early marriage pressure, part-time economic obligations, etc. If a student’s creative activity reflects any of these non-academic stressors, treat it as within the scope of the lesson, and follow up privately to connect with the student and offer whatever support exists within the school or community.
Featured Video: At Pariksha Pe Charcha 2025, Deepika Padukone speaks directly with school students about exam stress, mental health, and the importance of expressing rather than suppressing what you feel.
What You Might Say
“I want to begin today’s lesson by asking you something, and I want you to really think about it before you answer.
When was the last time you felt extremely stressed or anxious about something related to school, your tests, or upcoming exams? The kind of stress where you feel it physically somewhere in your body. For example, maybe sometimes your heart beats faster, your stomach hurts, you get a headache, or your mind races when you’re trying to sleep at night.
(After asking the question to students in the class, pause for about a minute to allow the students to reflect on this. You can give examples to students about how stress can be carried physically.)
Now, tell me by raising your hands, how many of you feel pressure around your marks and exam performance? Around board exams? Entrance tests like JEE, NEET, CUET, CLAT or whatever examination that is directly ahead of you right now?
(Address the room to acknowledge how many students raise their hands.)
Look around the room and observe your classmates. How many hands are up? This is the first thing I want you to notice today to help you see that you are not the only one. Whatever you are carrying within you, the person next to you is carrying something similar. And the person behind you and the one in front of you. We all carry such feelings and emotions inside of us, including me, and I felt the same way at your age while preparing for my own examinations. Emotions are a part of life, and we all feel them. They are the feelings that we all experience every day. Some emotions feel good, like happiness, excitement, or joy. Other emotions might feel difficult and uncomfortable, like fear, sadness, frustration, anxiety, or anger. There are no bad emotions or good emotions, and there is nothing wrong with feeling an uncomfortable emotion.
Keeping all of this in mind, today, we are going to talk about these feelings that almost every one of us experiences in India but rarely speaks about openly in a classroom. We will talk about it, not to complain or feel sorry for ourselves, and not as a distraction from preparation, but because understanding what we are going through is the first step toward preparing well for this crucial period, without letting it control you or break you.
If during or after this lesson, any of you feel any difficult emotions or need someone to speak to, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. “
(The discussion should be kept conversational and not like a lecture. Ask questions, pause, and then respond to what comes up from the students.)
Example of What You Might Say
“I want to tell you something that might sound strange and very different from what you have consistently heard from your parents, grandparents, neighbours, teachers, tutors, and even some of your friends, teachers, tutors, and even some of your friends tell you.
Stress is not your enemy.
I know that might not feel true when you are unable to fall asleep and are lying awake the night before an important test, or when you feel your mind going blank as you sit in the exam hall, or when you have been studying for hours and still feel like nothing is going inside your head. It feels like your own mind is working against you.
But stress, actually at its core, is a signal. It is your mind and body telling you that this matters deeply to you, and that you care about what happens here.
The problem is not that you feel stress. The problem is when that signal becomes so loud and so constant that it drowns out everything else, including your ability to think clearly, sleep, eat, and connect with the people you care about.
The work we are going to do together in today’s session will not be about how to stop feeling stress, but how to understand it better and manage it, so that it does not become the only thing that runs your life and thought process.
Before we go ahead with the lesson, I want you to notice your body for about one minute. I want you all to close your eyes and try to notice your breathing. Does it feel fast or slow? Notice your shoulders. Do they feel tight or relaxed? Notice your jaw, your hands, and your stomach. Do you feel them tight or knotted up? Where do you feel like you are holding tension right now?
(Wait about a minute and then continue.)
Could you notice the tightness in your shoulders, the knot in your stomach, the clenching of your jaw: these are all signals that stress is affecting your body. And now that you notice it, you can begin to work with it. What you just did is called a body check-in. In yoga and similar practices, awareness of the body’s state before action is considered foundational.
The practice is very simple: sit still, pause, notice, and then continue. It takes only about one minute, and while it does not fix your problems, it can help bring you back into your own body and out of your anxious thoughts.
Example of What You Might Say
“We are going to do a creative activity right now to help us reflect on how we are all feeling about school pressure and the stress of performing well on exams.
We are going to answer the question: ‘How are you really feeling right now about school, exams, and your life as a student?’
Note: In settings where students have never been asked how they feel before, this question may initially be met with surprise or surface-level responses. It is important for the teacher to model vulnerability here and share their own experience with exam pressure and stress.
On a small paper slip, write one word describing how you are currently feeling, and under it, write your roll number. You do not need to write your name. Then, using that word as a guide, you can write, draw, use symbols and colours, or make a collage that represents your feelings, emotions, and struggles related to the pressures in your academic life. I will collect the paper slips with your guiding word, while the drawing, collage, or writing exercise will be yours to keep.
I want to read what I wrote when I reflected on a time I felt school pressure as a student…(Educators model their own creative activity)
Please do the activity based on what you are truly feeling without worrying about what sounds responsible, what you think you’re supposed to say, or what you expect teachers want to hear. You won’t have to share this out loud. I understand how new and strange this exercise might feel to some of you. It might help you to think of this more like a personal journal entry rather than a formal paper.
Give students 10 to 15 minutes to write their responses, draw their sketches, or create their collages on the handout or a sheet of paper. While students write, you can also write something new yourself to model for students that it is okay to be vulnerable. After the allotted time, collect the paper slips with the guiding word from the students.
Note: If any of the notes contain something concerning that signals the student may be in real distress, set it aside to follow up with that student privately after the session and offer additional resources for support.
Example of What You Might Say
“It can be helpful to know we are not alone, so I will randomly pick out some of the slips I collected and write down the words you wrote, and we will see what many of you are going through. I will not mention anyone’s name or roll number and will just focus on the guiding word that has been written on each of the paper slips.”
Select a few random slips from the collection and write the word in capital letters on the writing board for all students to see. Do not mention the roll number or identity of any of the students while doing this.
“Can you notice all the words that have come up from you here on the board? It shows that you are not alone in your feelings and that even your friends and classmates are going through similar experiences as you are.”
Now, if anyone wants to share a small part of what they wrote or drew or created, please do. We would all like to hear more about how we tend to feel during periods of extreme pressure, like preparing for board exams and entrance tests.
(Invite a few students to share.)
“Look at what we have captured in this room right now, just with the words and feelings and emotions you reached for. Exhaustion. Fear of letting people down. The marks not being enough. The sleepless anxiety. The coaching class after school when you are already tired. The successful cousin, or friend, or neighbour you are constantly compared to. The relative who asks every time they see you what you are planning to do. The unshakeable feeling that everyone else has it figured out except you.
These are not the responses of students who are weak. These are not the responses of students who are not trying hard enough. These are the responses of students who are working incredibly hard.
In this session, we have done something we don’t usually do. You all showed real courage by honestly naming the struggles and feelings that most of you carry, even though it can feel like you’re carrying them alone.
Note: These are just management tools and not any form of therapy or clinical intervention.
Do both exercises with students, the more ordinary and unselfconscious you are about this, the more permission students feel to take it seriously.
Example of What you could say:
I want to end our lesson by offering you a new strategy or tool you can use when you feel stress and anxiety (e.g., writing, exercising, going for a walk, talking to a friend or family member, drawing or making art, or using a breathing technique).
[If you have the infrastructure or access to technology, then you can show the supporting video on this part of the lesson.]
We are going to watch a short video of a mental health expert. They are going to give you an overview of a few things you can do when you feel anxious. This mental health expert will also lead you in a breathing activity that you can use during an exam to ease your anxiety. We also have additional videos to help us understand what we are experiencing when our bodies experience stress that the educator can also choose to show to students.
I want to give you two tools that require no equipment, and no one around you needs to know you are using them. You can use them at any time or place: in the exam hall, waiting for a result, or at two in the morning when you cannot sleep. The first is for when anxiety spikes suddenly, that is, when the alarm fires and you need to bring it down quickly.
“Breathe in for 4 counts. Hold for 7. Breathe out slowly for 8. It is the long exhale that tells your nervous system that you’re not in any danger, and that it’s safe to calm down and relax.”
Let us all do this together, three times. Close your eyes if that feels comfortable, and I will count out loud. Lead three rounds. Count slowly and clearly.
The second is for building a daily habit of something called box breathing that you can do for two minutes before you sit down to study each day.
“Breathe in for 4. Hold for 4. Out for 4. Hold for 4. That is one round. Let us do four rounds of this exercise together.” Lead four rounds. Count slowly and clearly without rushing.
Before every study session this week, try four rounds of box breathing before you open a book. Notice whether it changes how quickly you settle. And if you feel your stress is extremely high at any point, try three rounds of the 4-7-8 breath. It takes about 60 seconds. Your marks will not change in 60 seconds, but your ability to think clearly might.”
Lesson Closure
Example of What You Might Say:
“I know today I asked you to connect with difficult and uncomfortable feelings like anxiety and fear. The first step to managing these emotions is to notice them and to share how you are feeling. I hope today you feel like you learned a few new tools you can use when you feel this pressure and stress. If any of you are feeling distressed or need someone to speak about your feelings and emotions, you can reach out to me or any other teacher you trust and feel comfortable with, anytime you need. You can also find additional grounding activities on the Kevin Love Fund website using this link.”