How to encourage someone who has failed their exam

Failing exams can make students feel really awful about themselves. Someeven feel embarrassed to face their parents, hang outwith their friends who have performed better, or even attend classes. No one wants to perform poorly in an exam but sometimes despite how hard we work, we find ourselves at the bottom of the class. There is no worse feeling than finding out your friend has failed their test when you are probably among the top students in your class. However, there are several things you can do to make them cope with the situation and feel good about themselves. Some of the ways to encourage someone whohas failed an exam include helping them understand that failure does not define them, suggest new study methods that will help them perform better next time, or even sharing your own exam revision and preparation strategies.

People react differently to exam failure. Just like grieving over a huge loss, there are a lot of emotions that can be portrayed from failure.

Most students start thinking that they will not be able to achieve success in that particular subject or course.

They are those who give up or even drop out of college

Others try again using different techniques and strategies

Some start blaming their friends or even their professors claiming that they made the paper too hard

The way someone reacts to failure can tell whether they will achieve success in the end. If a person you know is going through any of the situations mentioned above you can help them get backon track by teaching them how to deal with exam failure and supporting them through the following ways:

If the person has never failed an exam before, performing poorly even inone paper can be really devastating. Your job is not tomake them feel worse than they already are but to keep reminding them that failure is inevitable and even the brightest students fail at some point in their lives. You can encourage them by saying something like, “Everybody fails. There are other students who have performed even worse than you, so don’t feel so bad about it. Wewill get through this!” Such words will get the person feeling more alive and give them some motivation to work harder next time or avoid repeating the things that made them perform poorly.

Sometimes when a person fails an exam, all they want to do is complain about everything. They feel upset about the exam, the class, and even their professors. This is okay and it is normal to vent when one is not so happy about the outcome of something. If you are dealing with a person who has failed an exam, let them let out this anger. Listen keenly and read their facial expressions as they pour out their emotions. Ask them how they feel but do so assertively so that you don’t hurt their feelings. Allow them to talk to you as long as they feel the need to. Use words like, “Tell me how you feel. I am here for you and will try my best to provide a solution if you need me to.”

When students fail an exam, many of them tent to think that they can never succeed in life. Well, this is not true. Tell this person that failing one exam does not make them a failure at other things. Remind them that they can still succeed in the remaining subjects and achieve their career dreams. You can use phrases like, “I know you feel like you won’t be able to get through this but you will. You only need a little faith. Performing poorly in one exam does not mean that you can’t do better in the rest of the course. This was just a small bump on the road. The rest of the journey will be smoother.” A little encouragement is all this person needs and such words could mean everything to them.

When you fail an exam, it is easy to feel demoralized to ever try anything in life because you feel like you will never get things right again. If you are trying to encourage someone who has just failed a test, try to give exams of people you know have failed before but later succeeded. It can be a similar exam or a different one. The idea is to make them believe that they can cope with failure and do things well again. Remind them of their strengths too. If this person has done something really well before, remind them about it and tell them that good things can still happen again. Some encouraging words to use here could be like, “You see, everyone likes talking about how Julia is the brightest student in this school, but she failed this exact paper and she is still doing great!”

When one fails a test, it is not uncommon to see them star studying immediately again. If the person you are helping to cope with exam failure just wants to grab their notebook and head to the library immediately after getting the results, try to stop them. Suggest that they take a breather even if it is just for half a day. Taking a break will help improve their mental health and get their mind functioning properly. Advise them to take a walk outside, watch a little bit of TV, go to the gym, orhelp with house chores – just something to keep their mind off books for some time.

No one knows when they will fail an exam or when they will perform excellently. Sometimes even after spending days in the library and doing the right preparation, exam failure still knocks at our doors. If it has happened to your friend or someone you know, it could happen to you too so don’t feel like you are special than that person who hasn’t performed so great in their papers. Do not make fun of them. They may appear to be okay with failing the test but deep down they are hurting. Choose your words very carefully and even when giving some advice, make sure not to compare their grades to yours because this will make them feel as if you are making fun of them and may not take whatever you say seriously.

Find out how long they prepared for the exam, how often they attend classes, and whether they create time to read their notes or not. Help them try new strategies of studying and preparing exams so that they can perform better next time. If there is a new technique you have tried and worked for you, share it with them. Maybe you have discovered this kickass study group that has helps you revise past exam papers. Perhaps you have been relying on college homework help providers for assistance with assignments and school projects so you can have time to study. Share this information and any other strategies that have yielded you fruits in the past.

Ask them where they have been studying. If it is somewhere with many distractions, suggest a new place that offers the best environment for learning. A quiet corner at their home will be a great place to get started. Just set up a desk and a chair and they will be good to go. Alternatively, you can help them come up with a list of some of the quiet coffee shops in the area. While at it, recommend ways to minimize distractions. If the person has been spending more time on social media than in studies, suggest that they should turn off their social media notifications or switch their phones completely off while they study. Advise them to only check their accounts when taking a break.

Some students simply need an extra push to study or learn something, and that’s quite normal. If you are dealing with a person who has failed an exam, advise them to get professional help. This can be a tutor to help them understand some of the subjects in which they are having problems, or online homework help platforms where they can have their assignments done by a professional. Expert guidance could be all this person needs to boost their grades, have a better understanding of the concepts and feel better about themselves.