The 'race' to your GCSE or SQA exams can be a long one, and for many students, it will ramp up as they enter the autumn term and prepare for mock exams. But you might want to set a little time aside in your revision timetable to watch the brand new series of Celebrity Race Across the World, which starts on BBC One and iPlayer from Thursday 6 November at 8pm.
Famous faces including DJ Roman Kemp, actor Dylan Llewellyn and singer Molly Rainford, along with their family members, will set off from the idyllic Caribbean island of Isla Mujeres and will race 5,900km to reach the finish line in the remote and breathtaking Península de La Guajira in Colombia. They'll be hoping to follow up the success of DJ Scott Mills and his husband Sam Vaughan, who won the last series of the popular travel show.
We're sure that the racers will face many difficult challenges and have to adapt to unforeseen circumstances across the series, but what can you learn from their epic journey across Latin America and how does it apply to your studies? Let's take a look!
Make a plan for your revision
The contestants on Celebrity Race Across the World often try and make a plan when working out how to get from A to B, much like with revision, staying organised and planning your time during the race is a good idea. When studying, it can be really beneficial to create a revision timetable. This can help you keep on top of your workload on the run up to exam season.
The racers usually have to take a long bus trip or a mega train journey to get to their final destination, which can often be very dull and boring. The same can be said about super long revision sessions, our Mind Set coach Rohan told us that he would often do four hour chunks of one subject, but it didn't help him at all because he would procrastinate. He found that doing twenty minutes of work and then having a five minute break suited him much better. So when you are creating your revision timetable, make sure you adopt an approach that works best for you, and schedule plenty of breaks.
Know your study strengths
Teams on Celebrity Race Across the World usually have strengths that compliment each other – if one person is good at directions, the other might be good at budgeting – each team member has their own strength to help get to the final destination.
Knowing your strengths, and what works for you when studying is known as metacognition, and can really help when revising for exams. For example, you may know you focus better first thing in the morning, so you could plan to do a more complex piece of work as soon as you wake up. Play our study strengths quiz to find out more about how you learn best.
Go for a run to help you revise
When heading to the final checkpoint contestants often have to run to get their name in the guestbook first, it is a race after all! But did you know that exercise, especially running, can be great for your revision?
Research from England Athletics and the mental health charity Mind shows how taking a break from your studies and heading out for a jog can do your mental wellbeing good at a time when stress levels can be high.
If running isn't your thing, you can find some more inspiration for taking a study break here.
There are bound to be many twists and turns on the celebrity race to Colombia, and also in your revision and exams, but you can always find plenty of tips on the Bitesize Study Support website to help you in your moment of study-need!
If you need support
You should always tell someone about the things you’re worried about. You can tell a friend, parent, guardian, teacher, or another trusted adult. If you're struggling with your mental health, going to your GP can be a good place to start to find help. Your GP can let you know what support is available to you, suggest different types of treatment and offer regular check-ups to see how you’re doing.
If you’re in need of in-the-moment support you can contact Childline, where you can speak to a counsellor. Their lines are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
There are more links to helpful organisations on the BBC Bitesize Action Line page for young people.
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