Exam mania has hit Britain with GCSEs, A Levels and resits taking up a teenager’s time.

No matter what our age, we have all experienced the dread of exams.

And, as our future generation dream of enjoying lazy days in the sunshine during the summer holidays, it’s time to get ensconced in a mountain of books.

Love them or hate them, we’ve been through the ordeal.

Here is a list of things we have all experienced at exam time - and if we have missed any, please don’t hesitate to let us know.

1. Stress

You feel like tearing your hair out, bursting into tears, or constantly feel you are never on top of your revision timetable. You feel alone and your life is at its lowest ebb. Don’t despair, thousands of you are going through the same thing and the more prepared you are, the less stress you feel. And don’t forget, a big hug from mum AND ice cream always helps.

2. Annoying friends

You know the ones - those who keep telling you everything they are doing to prepare for their exams. And, as the time draws nearer, they fly about like a scared bat. It’s not good for you who stays calm when they have a meltdown. Everyone is on an emotional rollercoaster at this time. Again a little hugging can help.

3. Clever clogs

We’ve all got ourselves so annoyed with those people who just know it all. They recite every date in chronological order, state every historical event that has happened, know every mathematical formula and physics is a doddle. If you’re bright, you pick their brains - if your not so clever, stay clear of them as they only wind you up.

4. Exam mode

They arrive with no make-up, the false eye-lashes have been left at home and hair unwashed. They haven’t had time for preening themselves as usual because they have had their noses in a file for three months.

But it’s safety in numbers and those stressed faces will soon have the bronzer back on them when the parties start again. However, there is always a certain group who manage to look glam at all times - it’s not fair.

5. The upset stomach

It’s silent in the exam hall and suddenly your stomach starts to make funny noises. It groans, it gurgles - and everyone stares. You mouth that it’s your stomach and you point ‘down there’. You wish the ground would open and it would gobble you up. Aaahhh!

6. Lucky charms

You wake up early for your exam and start revising in your head. But horror strikes when you go to your underwear drawer and can’t find your lucky knickers or undies. ‘Oh no! I will never pass without my luck Bridget Jones specials.’ Then you remember you put them out next to your see-through pencil case the night before. Phew.

7. Confused

Why is it that everything you put down, you can’t seem to find it. Your brain is so jammed packed with facts and figures that simple, everyday things become a massive feat. You never seem to remember where you have put things and it feels like you spend half your time hunting through house or in your school bag. Don’t worry, after your exams have finished your thought process will go back to normal. Whatever that ‘normal’ is.

8. The jewellery fiddlers

There are always that set of girls and boys who won’t go out of the house without their jewellery. But it is their constant jingling and fiddling with it when they are in the exam. You can’t concentrate for that funny little noise that keeps happening behind you when a St Christopher is being run along a neck chain. Please stop.

9. The coughs

It starts just as you get into the exam hall. The cough, that niggling little tickle in the back of your throat that won’t go away. Then the Mexican wave of coughs starts - and, like an epidemic, it sweeps across the room. Water at the ready, please.

10. The twitcher

There’s those people who can’t stop twitching. They shake their legs, tap their knees, pick the skin around their fingers or flick their pens. Again, it’s one more annoying thing that distracts your mind from concentrating. Gggrrrrr!

11. Extra paper

You think you have learnt everything. It’s stored in your brain and you are ready to go. You scribble away through the questions and you couldn’t have possibly written any more. Then that annoying person in front asks for more paper. It leaves you thinking - how is that possible?

12. Brain dead

You’ve spent months cramming as much stuff into your brain as humanly possible and you have it nailed. But you open the exam paper and your brain goes dead. You panic, your hands start to sweat and your heart sinks. Then, out of no-where, that little light-bulb switches back on again and everything you know starts flooding back. Phew!

13. Time

There’s never quite enough of it. No matter how many past papers you do, you never seem to get the time perfect. You could always do with that extra 10 minutes.

14. After the exam

You’ve done the best you can and you feel you have done pretty well. ‘Mmmm, it didn’t go too bad,’ you proclaim. Then, from the silence of the exam room you all leave and make a beeline for your friends. You stand outside in a huddle and start asking: “What did you put for that?” And: “What was your answer for this?” You smugly shake your head when you confidently tell them your answers for the ten and 16 markers. But your heart sinks when all your pals have given the same answer and you realise you have messed up. Oooops!

15. The Prom

After exams, there is only one things your pals talk about - the Prom. And it's where the girls pay through the nose for that ‘one-off’ dress and the boys wear a dickie bow for the first time. People pay phenomenal amounts to arrive in a limo, horse drawn carriage or a Rolls Royce. But one thing is for sure, many of them end up in a drunken heap on the floor at midnight.

16. Results day

You can’t sleep, you break out in hot sweats and the anticipation is overbearing. You meet your pals to head into school to collect that envelope that determines the rest of your life. There are two camps once the envelopes have been carefully opened. Those who are elated and those who are left crying. It’s off to uni for some and a rethink about the future for others. Just remember, it is not as bad as you initially think. And a big hug from mum again never goes a miss