Kicking off exam season, the Student Union at the University of Westminster has organised a de-stress week that includes a nap room, free yoga classes and a handful of fluffy animals to deal with the stress of examinations.

According to a study by ChildLine in 2014, 58 per cent of counselling sessions in relation to school and education problems were about exam stress, a 200 per cent rise from the previous year. Now in 2017, It seems that the number is still rising as teens take to twitter to complain about their overbearing amount of work.

Only been back at uni six weeks and the stress is kicking in 😭 so much work and an exam from now till January I wanna cry 😥

— Naomi Graham (@_nomzi94) October 26, 2016

The Nap Room runs from May 8th to May 12th, and its Facebook event page can be found here. The Union started taking action due to the overwhelming amount of work students are facing with final year assessments and exam revision. One of the most famous and sold-out events of de-stress week is the puppy and bunny room, that allows students to play with adorable animals to calm them down from dissertations and final projects.

Pictures: University of Westminster Facebook Page

 

The University began the idea of bunny and puppy day last year and kept it this year due to the high demands. You can see the video of the day below.

Video: Smoke TV

With rising concern for exam stress and its effect on students, there is also a concern about eating disorders and self-harm being at a combined total of 34,000 people who use ChildLine yearly.

after 4 years at Uni I finally cracked the exam system: go pub the night before for stress relief and you’ll succeed #proven

— Ross (@RossOrlov) July 7, 2016

A press release from the University Health Awareness Day 2017 claims that, undergraduate students appear to have a lower sense of personal wellbeing than the rest of the population with 21% of students experiencing ‘low anxiety’ compared to 41% of the total population and 43% of the equivalent age group. [The 2016 Student Academic Experience Survey, HEPI]

De-stress week at the University of Westminster will help with students mental health and focus on student successes during exam season.