From a doctoral student's POV

Hello everyone, and welcome to this exam season blog series.

For those of you who are new here, my name is Mercy. I am a third-year PhD student from Nigeria. Some of you may be wondering what a doctoral student has to say about exams, especially since we do not sit traditional exams and my department focuses more on essays than written tests. However, I have experienced exams during my undergraduate degree, observed friends during their master’s programmes, invigilated exams here in Bath, and taught students as a Graduate Teaching Assistant. While I may not currently be writing exams, I understand what they represent, both from personal experience and from observing others.

Exams are often a highly anticipated time in a student’s life. They can feel like the culmination of lectures, revision, and future plans, all brought together into a series of questions within a fixed time. It is very common for students to feel stressed when the timetable is released. It can suddenly feel as though there is too much to read and too little time.

The first thing I would like to say is this: it is completely acceptable to feel overwhelmed. Almost everyone feels this way. For me, the closest equivalent to an examination during my PhD was my confirmation. This involves submitting a report, giving a presentation, and answering both pre-set and on-the-day questions. It is a very intense experience because you are still learning how to be a researcher while being assessed on your progress. My friends and I all felt overwhelmed, but like most students facing exams, we prepared as best as we could.

 

While invigilating, I often reflect on how short the exam itself is compared to its impact. Students enter the room, begin their papers, and within a few hours, it is over. Weeks or months of preparation come down to that moment. This has reinforced an important idea for me. While exams matter, they are not the full story. The knowledge you gain, the friendships you build, your routines, your accommodation experience, sharing meals, learning about different cultures, and discovering yourself and the city are all equally important parts of your university journey.

As you prepare for exams, it is important not to lose sight of that bigger picture.

In accommodation, not everyone will be writing exams at the same time, or at all. However, this does not mean we cannot contribute to a positive environment for those who are.

 

In the next blogs, I will share practical tips for those preparing for exams and suggestions on how we can support one another as flatmates during this period.