Speaking from personal experience, the real pressure, both academic and emotional starts after you receive your offer. For me, this was mostly due to the fact that you find it harder to forgive yourself if you miss out on your grades after securing your offer. You get the feeling that getting your place at Oxbridge is so close yet so far. However, this does not mean you should give in to this pressure or endlessly study until your A-level exams in a few months ahead. This blog post aims to give you an insight into how to balance academic pressure and your well-being while making sure that you secure your opportunity to study at the two most prestigious universities in the world.

The next few months are likely to be a lot of studying. However, allowing yourself to take breaks is probably the most important thing to do in order to maintain your personal well-being. This helps clear your mind and prevents a burnout. Thinking that you deserve a break during your studying also ensures that you don’t push yourself too hard.

The most important part of studying is the consistency and efficiency, not the hours spent studying. There is little point in simply studying a certain amount of hours per day if they are not productive. They are likely to make you more tired without making you more prepared for your exams. It is better to limit the number of hours you study a day, but make sure that you stay consistent and focused on your studies during those hours than to have unproductive, drawn-out study sessions.

This brings me to my next point, the importance of setting a realistic plan. I know it’s tempting to think that cramming every subject in one day and studying as many hours as possible every day is going to lead to better results, especially in the last few weeks before exams. However, this is extremely unrealistic and unaccomplishable. Not being able to accomplish the unrealistic goals you set yourself will simply put more pressure on your already stressed mind.

It is better to roughly plan in advance when you are going to tackle certain parts of the curriculum and spread it out over a longer period of time.

It is undoubtedly important to make sure you are dedicating enough time and effort into studying. But it is perhaps more important to continue what you have already been doing before. This refers to both your studying methods as well as your hobbies. Just because you got your offer does not mean you should slack off or dramatically increase the number of hours spent studying every day.

This also goes for your hobbies and extracurriculars. If there are sports or musical instruments you enjoy playing, you should not stop doing these activities during this period. This can prevent you from being overwhelmed and maintain your mental well-being.

After all, it is about consistency and balance that leads to academic success.

I am sure that you have worked hard to get here, and have no doubts that you will secure your Oxbridge places!