A little less pressure · HSC exam weeks
Sleep isn’t
another exam.
Before an exam, swap “early night” for “bed when you’re sleepy”. We’d start with a familiar wind-down, not a suddenly earlier bedtime.
The small shift
An earlier bedtime can be a harder bedtime.
Teenage body clocks tend to run later. The hours just before usual bedtime can be especially wakeful: researchers call this the “forbidden zone” for sleep. A lab study found it was stronger in teenagers than adults. [1, 2]
So sending someone to bed early may leave them wide awake, rehearsing quotes. Keep room for enough sleep (teenagers generally need 8–10 hours) and start winding down before bed. [5]
Reading this as a student? You don’t have to make sleep happen on command.
Optional · three quick questionsA little myth-busting?
No score. Just a few familiar ideas worth checking.
“An early night before an exam is always the best preparation.”
“An early night before an exam is always the best preparation.”
Myth. A suddenly earlier bedtime can land in the body’s wakeful zone. A familiar wind-down and bed when sleepy may be more useful. [1, 2]
“One rough night tells you how tomorrow’s exam will go.”
Myth. In one university study, sleep over the preceding weeks was associated with marks; the single night before a test wasn’t. That cannot predict an individual HSC result. [3]
“A specific to-do list may help settle a busy mind before bed.”
Fact, with a limit. In a small adult lab study, five minutes listing upcoming tasks led to faster sleep onset than listing completed tasks. It wasn’t a study of HSC students. [4]
Four exam-week tips
Make the evening easier to land.
Make tonight’s plan at breakfast.
Agree on a wind-down plan while everyone’s awake. Bedtime doesn’t need a committee meeting. [5]
Keep wake-up time fairly steady.
That includes non-exam days. Big sleep-ins can shift the body clock later; keep enough time for sleep across the week. [6]
Give tomorrow a five-minute list.
Try paper in the early evening: “pack pens; check the bus time”. Be specific. A small adult study found a benefit from writing at bedtime; our earlier timing is a practical suggestion. [4]
At 1am, keep it dim and dull.
If lying awake is becoming frustrating, get up for something quiet in low light, then return when sleepy. Skip exam talk, sleep lectures and bright screens. [7]
Try a reply
Take the pressure out of the conversation.
Imagine it’s 9pm before English Paper 1. Your teenager says:
“I’m not sleepy. If I don’t sleep, I’ll mess up tomorrow.”
Try: “That sounds stressful. Let’s wind down; bed can wait until you’re sleepy.” It acknowledges the worry and gives a manageable next step, without promising an exam result.
One thing for tonight
Choose one small thing. That’s enough.
What would be useful right now?
Try one sentence tonight: “We can wind down now; you don’t have to force sleep.”
Keep a little perspective.
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What we drew on
These studies inform the ideas here; they don’t predict anyone’s sleep or exam results.
- Lavie (1986). “Gates” and “forbidden zones” for sleep. Small adult laboratory experiments found a wakeful period before usual bedtime.
- Monterastelli et al. (2024). The forbidden zone for sleep is more robust in adolescents compared to adults. A laboratory comparison of 44 teenagers and 44 adults.
- Okano et al. (2019). Sleep and academic performance in college students. An observational university study, not an HSC trial; association does not establish cause.
- Scullin et al. (2018). Bedtime writing and difficulty falling asleep. A small adult lab study compared five-minute to-do lists with completed-activity lists, written immediately before bed. It did not test early-evening writing or teenagers.
- Royal Children’s Hospital. Sleep problems – children and teens. Sleep needs and daytime planning.
- Sleep Health Foundation. Teenage sleep. Body-clock timing and large weekend sleep-ins.
- Sleep Health Foundation. Good sleep habits. Wind-down routines and getting out of bed briefly when unable to sleep.