Whether you are at school or university, taking GCSEs, A levels or finals, there is no getting away from the fact that revising can be stressful. But there are ways to manage the pressure. The children's helpline, ChildLine, received almost 1,000 calls in 2000 from pupils needing counselling to cope during the summer exams. Experts from ChildLine and the National Union of Students offer these tips:

• Make a realistic revision timetable and stick to it. Start planning it well before the exams begin. Never leave revision to the last minute.
• Make summary notes of your books, notes and essays to make them more user-friendly, especially if you don't like the subject or find it difficult. Try adding headings and sub-headings, or use highlighting pens and revision cards, key words or charts – whatever works for you.
• Think carefully about what revision routine best suits you. If you are a morning person do most of your studying before lunch, not late at night when you can't concentrate or you feel too sleepy. If you're a night person, study later during the day but remember to go to bed at a reasonable hour to get enough sleep. Being too tired will slow your revision and not help your exam chances.
• Make notes of important points when revising. Try answering questions from past exam papers or explaining tricky answers to someone else to make sure you have made sense of it.
• If you really cannot concentrate it may be because you are tired or hungry or just bored. Take a short break and come back to it 10 minutes later. Short bursts of focused revision are often more beneficial than hours of staring at the same page.
• Always ask for help if there are things you don't understand, and especially if you're feeling stressed out.
• If stress really gets on top of you, talk to your parents or your teachers. If that's no good, there are several helplines designed to help you with just these worries.
• Finally, never forget that there is life after revision and exams.

Keeping your cool in exams

When the big day arrives it is too late to worry any longer over whether you have revised enough. But coping with your stress on the day itself may make all the difference to how you do. Here is some more advice from experts:

• Try to have a good breakfast. Getting hungry during the middle of an exam can be distracting, especially if your concentration is already waning.
• Make sure you know when and where the exam will be.
• Give yourself plenty of time to get there and calm your nerves. Rushing only adds to the feeling of panic.
• The night before check that you have packed your bag with everything you will need – extra pens, water, tissues and so on. On the morning of the exam, nerves can make you forget something important.
• If the nervous chat of other pupils taking the exam increases your butterflies, try and find a quiet corner for yourself.
• Go to the toilet before the exam starts.
• In the exam, make sure you take time to read the instructions and questions carefully. Many students do badly because they give the wrong number of answers or misread the questions.
• Work out how long you will have to answer each question and try to stick to this.
• Keep an eye on the time and follow instructions about how long to spend on different sections.
• Make sure you allow yourself 10 to 15 minutes at the end to read through your work, check for obvious mistakes and ensure you have answered all the questions you need to.