Stress affects everyone, particularly in the build up to exams, job interviews and when pressure mounts at work.

At Weston College, our expert Welfare Team is on hand to help you if you are worried about your stress levels or other mental health issues.

Here are some of the top tips our Welfare Team give to combat stress…

Start a diary

Writing about your day will help you to identify things that make you feel stressed. You’ll probably be surprised to find that a pattern soon emerges; and this may be linked to time pressure, personality clashes, inappropriate demands or simply trying to do too many things at once. Keeping a diary will help you to blow off steam in a productive way.

Talk to someone

Talk through your diary with a good friend or someone at College - even the act of discussing things often makes you feel better. The College’s Welfare Team is on hand to help our students and offers impartial advice to ease the problems that you’ve discovered.

Learn how to relax

Practise deep-breathing techniques. Breathe in while counting to five; hold your breath for five seconds then breathe out slowly. Repeat this 10 times when feeling stressed, concentrating on nothing but your breathing. You can relax your neck muscles by keeping your shoulders level and trying to touch each shoulder with your ear.

Take time out

For five minutes every hour try to chill out and think of nothing but your perfect situation. This could be a dream holiday, ideal partner or simply thinking about doing nothing at all. You will be surprised at how effectively this can lower stress levels.

Exercise regularly

You do not have to be a gym freak to get the stress-beating benefits of exercise. Even 20 minutes of brisk walking three times a week will help to reduce stress as well as promoting restful sleep.

Plan breaks in your day

The aim here is to allow time for the unexpected. Get up 15 minutes earlier than you think you need to and prepare for the day without rushing. Even better, get things ready the night before. Try to have 20 minutes in which you can do whatever you want, even if it is simply sitting doing nothing.

Things to avoid

Smoking and drinking alcohol may appear to help you deal with the effects of stress in the short term, but in the long run they both lead to more tension and anxiety, and can easily lead to dependence. When smokers say that smoking helps them relax, it is because it alleviates the effects of their smoking addiction.

The way GCSEs are graded is changing. The alphabetised G to A* system is being phased out and replaced with a numerical grade that ranges from one to nine, with nine being higher than an A*.

This system means that there is greater differentiation between the highest achieving students. You can find the full table below…

While getting involved in volunteering can help you develop a large number of transferrable skills which are vital to being successful with job applications, getting involved with volunteering can do much more for you that just provide something for you to add to your CV...

A series of studies has proven that volunteering has a positive effect on your mental health too, one study even finding that volunteering is the best activity for improving your mental health.

This is because volunteering helps you feel more socially connected as it usually involves working as part of a team towards a common cause. This in turn makes you feel happy and wards off loneliness and depression.

If you are feeling stressed or you feel generally undervalued, getting involved with your local community can be beneficial to help improve your mental health.