Researchers have found that students with good stress get better results. The researchers from AQA exam board (Suzanne Chamberlain and Anthony Daly who’s study will be published in the Educational Research) suggest that the more pupils’ heart rates increases during an exam, the higher the marks they score, suggesting that increased heart rate is probably a sign of heightened alertness rather than nervous anxiety. It’s important to distinguish between ‘good’ pre-exam stress as nerves just before the event and the ‘bad’ variety involving lack of sleep, fatigue and guilt at not doing enough revision. Preparation, preparation, preparation. More on exam nerves