How do students de-stress during exam season?

As more than a million students in the UK are sitting exams, hot weather can often make a stressful experience even more of a challenge.

Young people face "more pressures than ever before", according to NHS England, which helped more than 250,000 students aged 16 to 18 last year, with issues like anxiety and sleep difficulties.

For University of Warwick students Lucia Sanchez, Zoey Jaffri, Fahad Khan and Abdul Usman, job applications and intensive module periods are also a stress factor as their course continues until August.

"We're in classes every day while we're seeing everyone else finish with their uni experience, it's a bit different and stressful," Jaffri said.

To keep calm during exams, the fourth year students recommended getting outside, surrounding yourself with friends, escaping campus to disconnect for a while and staying active.

"We live in a generation where it's very easy to be alone and you could get by being alone, but humans crave nurturing," Usman said.

Khan explained that it was "in our nature" to be active and suggested playing sports in the summer to improve your mood.

Laila Qaiyoom has three exams this term and said the "constant pressure to be doing something" was stressful and made it harder to switch off from studying.

"Compared to working a job, any free time I have during the day, especially during exam season, it feels like I should be studying," she said.

The second-year university student said it was important to "allow yourself to live at the same time" as exams, by being sociable and doing things you enjoy.

"Don't treat it as every second of the day should be spent working towards your academic career," Qaiyoom added.

Charlotte Carr and Mathura Balanathan said their two main stresses were the vast range of content to revise and managing time wisely.

"With uni, you make the choice in everything you do, while with school you have a structured day, so creating a routine is really helpful," Mathura said.

The pair take regular walks in between studying and "compartmentalise" their time to chat with friends and go outside.

"Connect with nature, ground yourself and make sure you're not isolated in one space during exams," Carr says.

Exam watchdog Ofqual said people react to stress in different ways - while it can be a "great motivator" for some students, it can be bad for others when exam pressures are "overwhelming".

Signs of high anxiety about exams include difficulty concentrating, negative thoughts about past performance, feeling excessive tension and going blank in an exam.

Ofqual recommends deep breathing to help control anxiety and taking part in mindfulness classes to calm yourself down.

The NHS advised getting enough sleep, staying physically active and eating well to manage stress, along with avoiding lots of caffeine.

It said to break studying down into manageable chunks and talk to friends or someone in your family about stress factors.

To help students beat exam stress, the University of Warwick holds a range of free activities on campus as part of its 'DeStresstival', an initiative also featured at universities in Birmingham and Derby.

Residential Community Assistant Sam Lestrade said the exam seasons were "really stressful" at the university and nature events helped people to "get away from it and see animals".

She said the university's demand for wellbeing home visits increased during term three because of stress that students experienced.

"Campus is quieter during term three as everyone is in the library, all the floors are full and people have to be turned away because there's no seats," Lestrade added.

• The National Union for Students (NUS) recommends setting realistic expectations for results to help manage your emotions and reduce self-imposed pressure

• Have a bedtime routine the night before. Clear your head before going to sleep by writing down your thoughts and wind down with some relaxing music or a book

• Meet up with someone before or after collecting your results so you can support each other

• Limit time on social media to avoid comparing your results to others as it can add to the pressure you're already feeling

• Create a plan for moving forward by setting short and long-term goals that will keep you motivated and focused on the future

The organisation has partnered with Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) to provide mental health support with helplines, guides and toolkits for students.

Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.