Supporting Exam Success: Managing Digital Distractions

Technology does not have to be the enemy during examinations. The key is helping your child control when they use it, rather than allowing it to control their attention. Small changes to routines around phones, gaming and social media can create a calmer environment in which focused revision is much easier.

Supporting Your Child During Examinations: Phones, Gaming & Social Media

📱 Agree an Exam-Period Phone Routine

• Agree phone-free revision periods, for example 45 to 60 minutes, followed by a short break.
• Encourage your child to leave their phone in another room, rather than beside them or in their pocket.
• Consider a family rule that phones are placed in a central location during planned revision.
• If the phone is needed for revision, agree beforehand exactly what it will be used for, for example accessing Microsoft Teams, Sparx, Seneca, Educake or online revision resources.

 

🔕 Reduce Notifications and Social Media Distractions

Even when students do not respond to a notification, seeing or hearing it can interrupt their concentration.

Parents can encourage students to:

 

• Turn on Do Not Disturb/Focus mode during revision.
• Switch off notifications from apps such as TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp.
• Remove particularly distracting apps temporarily during the examination period.
• Log out of social-media accounts to make accessing them less automatic.
• Keep social media for an agreed period after revision has been completed, rather than checking it throughout revision.

 

🚫 Consider Temporarily Disabling or Restricting Apps

For students who find it particularly difficult to regulate their own screen time, parents can consider using built-in parental controls during the examination period.

For example:

• Apple Screen Time can be used to set downtime and app limits.
• Google Family Link can help families manage app access and screen time on Android devices.
• Gaming consoles such as Xbox and PlayStation also provide family and parental controls.

Rather than imposing restrictions unexpectedly, agree the arrangements together, including when restrictions will begin and end. For example:

Monday to Thursday: social media and gaming restricted between 5.00pm and 8.00pm, with access available once planned revision is completed.

This helps the restriction feel like a temporary examination strategy, rather than a punishment.

 

🎮 Manage Gaming During the Examination Period

Gaming does not necessarily need to stop completely. A planned approach is often more sustainable.

Encourage your child to:

• Complete their planned revision before gaming.
• Agree a finishing time in advance.
• Avoid starting long or competitive online games shortly before planned revision or bedtime.
• Consider significantly reducing gaming during the final weeks before examinations if it is affecting revision, concentration or sleep.
• Keep consoles/controllers away from the revision area.
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🌙 Make Bedrooms Phone-Free at Night

A particularly useful family routine is to keep phones and other devices outside the bedroom overnight.

Consider:

• Agreeing a set time when devices are put away.
• Charging phones downstairs or in another room.
• Using a separate alarm clock if your child says they need their phone as an alarm.
• Discouraging late-night revision on a phone immediately before sleep.

During examinations, sleep should not be sacrificed for additional revision. A tired student is unlikely to benefit from staying up late trying to learn more content.

📝 Have a Visible Revision Plan

A clear plan can reduce the temptation to spend excessive time online.

Rather than:

“I need to revise tonight.”

Encourage something specific:

5.00–5.45: Biology: Cells and Organisation
5.45–6.00: Break
6.00–6.45: Maths: complete 10 algebra examination questions
After 6.45: Dinner/relaxation/phone time

The important question is “What are you going to complete?”, rather than simply “How long are you going to revise?”

 

👨‍👩‍👧 Parents: Model the Behaviour Too

Young people are more likely to accept boundaries if they feel that everyone is making an effort.

Families could introduce:

• Phone-free mealtimes.
• A family charging station overnight.
• Phone-free revision/work periods.
• Reduced television and background distractions while a child is revising.

 

❤️ Avoid Constantly Policing Revision

Parents can support without turning every evening into a revision disagreement.

Try asking:

“What are the three things you want to get done tonight?”

rather than:

“Have you revised yet?”

At the end of the evening, acknowledge what has been completed rather than focusing only on what remains.

☕ Build in Downtime

Students still need time to eat, exercise, socialise, relax and switch off.

The goal is not:

📵 No phone + 🎮 No gaming + 📚 Revision all evening

A healthier approach is: