DEAN Whittaker, who is taking A- levels at St Joseph's School in Swindon and has the offer of a place at university to study physics, feels the stress much more this time round than when he took his GCSEs.

He said: "If you are 16 and you fail you can always retake, but if I fail now it messes up my whole plan. I would have to do another year and I would have to reapply to universities.

"I try to forget about exams for a few days and relax by hanging out with my friends. I also try to take lots of breaks when I am revising.

"Because it is a small sixth form we can usually see the sixth form director when we need to and I have a brilliant form tutor I can go to at any time. Our teachers are always there for us and I think we have a counsellor who comes in every week."

Dean has to gain an A grade in physics as well as a B and C in maths and his vocational A-level IT. He notices friends taking A- levels with a lot more coursework tend to show a lot more stress as their deadlines approach.

"You will see people shouting and showing signs of stress and you are frightened to go anywhere near them." he said.