Decoding Exam Season: How Social Media Reveals Students’ Stress and Strategies

By Dr Kanayo Dike-Oduah

Exam season. The words alone can trigger a mix of emotions, stress, anxiety, and even dread. But what if I told you that amidst the undeniable pressure, students are finding a voice, a community, and even a sense of humour on social media?

As an educator, examiner and researcher, I’ve been fascinated by the intersection of high-stakes assessments and social media right from my Master’s in Educational Assessment (UCL) (Dike-Oduah, 2018). Platforms like TikTok and Twitter have become more than just distractions; they’re spaces where students share their experiences, critique exam structures, and find support.

I recently completed my EdD and my final thesis (Dike-Oduah, 2025), titled “Tik-‘X’-ing the Assessment Box: A Qualitative Exploration of Students’ Educational Assessment Experiences on TikTok and X (Twitter)”, is the first of its kind to explore the intersection between social media and high-stakes assessment.

A key outcome of my thesis was the development of the Social Media Assessment Framework (SMAF). This novel approach bridges social, psychological, and assessment theories to analyse student experiences of assessment as shared on social media.

The EU Online Kids framework (Livingstone et al., 2015) situates the SMAF within the online world. Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979), when considered in isolation, suggests that group membership provides a sense of identity, pride, and belonging. However, research has yet to acknowledge that, as students navigate GCSE and A-Levels together online, their social identity is also unfolding in digital spaces, hence the connection with the EU Online Kids Framework and assessment more generally. Assessment Dysmorphia (Richardson, 2022) is extended when connected to Social Identity Theory and the EU Online Kids Framework. I use the example of how, when one takes a photo or selfie on social media, one can add a filter to change and distort the way they look. In the same way, when students take a test and then go on social media (EU Online Kids Framework) to engage with assessment-related content, especially content from their in-groups and out-groups (Social Identity Theory), there is a chance that their engagement online can act as a filter to distort their assessment experiences. The synthesis of these three theories helped to establish an understanding of students’ assessment identities in the online world, which has not been done before.

The Emotional Rollercoaster of Exam Season

Social media provides a raw, unfiltered look into the emotional landscape of exam season. Students use these platforms to express everything from intense stress to moments of relief and accomplishment.
Take this tweet, for example:

“Me at whoever decided to put the maths and history exam on the same day #gcse #gcses2023 #gcse2023”

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This meme perfectly captures the frustration of students facing a demanding exam timetable. As one of my focus group participants shared:

“It was very stressful and very relatable because many students take maths and history, and I feel like it’s just so stressful because you have so little time to move from one subject to the next”. (Stu6-FG3)

But it’s not all stress and anxiety. Social media is also a platform to celebrate success and acknowledge hard work, as seen on various exam results days in August. TikTok is filled with videos of students celebrating their GCSE and A-Level results.

Student Voice: Critiquing the System with Memes

Beyond emotional expression, my research found that social media empowers students to critique exam structures and processes. They use humour, memes, and direct commentary to voice their concerns about exam content, fairness, and exam board practices.

This tweet, accompanied by a picture of Drake, the Hip-Hop artist, perfectly illustrates this:

“How AQA felt after sprinkling in some maths and physics in the GCSE biology exam”

This humorous post highlights the frustration of students who feel that exams don’t accurately reflect what they’ve learned in class. As one focus group participant explained:

“Especially like when you’ve revised. Like it might be something you were struggling with, and then you’ve revised hard for it, thinking it’s going to come up in the paper and then after all that revision…it doesn’t come up…” (IB-FG2)

This example of construct underrepresentation and construct irrelevance (Baird, 2010; Messick, 1993), coupled with “critical compliance” (Mccarthy, 2022), whereby students engage with assessment systems while simultaneously questioning them, is a key aspect of students’ assessment experiences on social media.

Applying SMAF to students’ Collective Complaint: “AQA Flogged Us”

The comment “AQA flogged us” on a TikTok video is another example of how students used social media to voice their frustrations with exam boards and perceived unfairness in the assessment system. The Social Media Assessment Framework (SMAF) helps to break down the dynamics at play in these online critiques. Social Identity Theory suggests that by expressing their shared grievances, students create a sense of solidarity and fortify their identity as members of a group that feels victimised by the outgroup (exam boards). Assessment dysmorphia highlights these sentiments, as the perception that exam boards deliberately make exams difficult can lead to a distorted view of the assessment process and students’ own abilities, resulting in feelings of helplessness and disempowerment. The EU Kids Online Research Framework provides another dimension by highlighting students’ agency in using social media to challenge the system. However, it also highlights the potential risks of online engagement, such as exposure to misinformation or the spread of negativity in the comment sections.

Final Thoughts

Understanding students’ assessment experiences through a digital lens is crucial in today’s world. The SMAF provides a valuable framework for researchers, educators, and policymakers to analyse and respond to the growing influence of social media on student learning and well-being. Read more about my work by searching for my thesis in UCL Explore.

References

Baird, J. (2010). Construct‐irrelevant variance sometimes has consequential validity. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 17(4), 339–343. https://doi.org/10.1080/0969594X.2010.516207

Dike-Oduah, K. (2018). Exams, Exams, Tweet all about it: A content analysis of students’ reactions to examinations on twitter [Master of Arts, University College London, Institute of Education]. https://doctorkanayo.com/research-portfolio/

Dike-Oduah, K. (2025). Tik-‘X’-ing the Assessment Box: A Qualitative Exploration of Students’ Educational Assessment Experiences on TikTok and X (Twitter) [PhD, EdD]. University College London, Institute of Education.

Livingstone, S., Mascheroni, G., & Staksrud, E. (2015). Developing a framework for researching children’s online risks and opportunities in Europe.

Mccarthy, F. (2022). Testing times? Exploring how pupils reacted to 2020 Covid-19 GCSE and A level exam cancellation. Teachers and Teaching, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2022.2098268

Messick, S. (1993). Foundations of Validity: Meaning and Consequences in Psychological Assessment. ETS Research Report Series, 1993(2), i–18. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2333-8504.1993.tb01562.x

Richardson, M. (2022). Rebuilding Public Confidence in Educational Assessment. UCL Press.

Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1979). An integrative theory of inter-group conflict. In M. J. Hatch & M. Schultz, Organizational Identity: A Reader (pp. 33–47). Brooks/Coke.