How to help your teens through their pre-exams

This time each year, I see the same thing happen in homes all over Cork. Mock exams arrive and suddenly the stress levels go through the roof.

Students feel behind, parents feel helpless, and everyone starts worrying about points.

I’ve worked with students for years, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that mock season doesn’t need to be this intense. Parents can make a huge difference, often without ever opening a textbook.

Start with breaks, not study

One of the biggest mistakes I see is students being expected to come home from school and go straight into study mode.

After a full day in class, their brains are fried. Concentration is low, motivation is shaky, and emotions are already high. This is why a proper break after school matters so much.

Dinner should be a break, not something rushed or eaten while staring at notes. 30-45 minutes where they can eat properly, sit down, and switch off makes an enormous difference. Having food ready when they come in might sound like a small thing, but it removes stress at exactly the wrong moment of the day. Students who get a proper break study better afterwards.

Reassurance is more powerful than pressure

Most students heading into the mocks feel underprepared. Many won’t have the course finished. A lot of them won’t have revised properly yet. That’s normal, but they don’t realise that. What they usually think is that everyone else is flying and they’re the only one struggling.

This is where parents matter most. From experience, students regularly improve by 15 to 20 percent between their mock results and the real exams in June. Sometimes even more. The mocks happen before proper revision, before exam technique clicks, and before confidence builds. They are not the finished product.

Mocks also don’t include everything. Projects, orals, coursework and practicals aren’t reflected in those results, yet they make a huge difference to final grades. I’ve seen countless students panic after mocks and then do very well once those elements are included. Calm reassurance from parents helps students keep perspective when their own heads are spinning.

Mocks and pre’s are the same thing

In Cork, people often call them Pre’s. Elsewhere, they’re mocks. Either way, they serve the same purpose. They are practice exams, not predictions. They are designed to show students where they’re at now, not where they’ll finish.

From my side of things, the most useful part of mocks isn’t the grade, it’s the feedback. Timing issues, weak topics, silly mistakes, exam layout. All of that information is gold if it’s used properly. Treating mocks like mini Leaving Certs just adds pressure without adding value.

If your child is upset after an exam or disappointed with a result, that reaction is understandable. What helps most is acknowledging how they feel and then gently reminding them that this is part of the process, not the end of it.

It’s not how long they study, it’s how they study

This is probably the biggest misunderstanding around exams. Students think more hours equals better results. It doesn’t. What matters is the quality of the study, not the quantity.

Reading notes, highlighting pages and staring at books feels productive, but it’s passive. Very little sticks. Real learning happens when students are actively thinking and writing. I always tell students that if the pen isn’t moving, the brain probably isn’t working hard enough.

Writing out answers, doing exam questions, explaining topics in their own words and correcting mistakes are what actually build understanding. Parents don’t need to know the subject to support this. Asking simple questions like “What are you practising?” or “Are you writing answers?” can be enough to steer them in the right direction.

Some students need structure

Not every teenager can study well on their own. That’s not laziness, it’s reality. Some need supervision, routine or external structure to make study time count. Supervised study after school, study centres or grinds can be very helpful for the right student.

The value isn’t magic teaching. It’s accountability and structure. It ensures that when time is set aside for study, it’s actually used properly. Giving your child options and helping them find what works for them is far more effective than constant reminders to “study more”.

Your job is to steady the ship

During mock season, students are already putting themselves under pressure. What they need most at home is calm, routine and reassurance. A proper meal, a clear break, realistic expectations and a steady voice go a long way. Mocks are just the practice run. But how supported they feel during this period can shape their confidence for the months ahead. From experience, that confidence is one of the biggest factors in how well students eventually do.

• See breakthroughmaths.ie