Everything you need to recharge and stay motivated this exam season

We know exam season is stressful. You may find it hard to stay motivated or feel you don’t have enough time to take breaks from studying.

But taking some time out is important for your wellbeing. We’ve got plenty of resources to help you relax and rejuvenate. And when you’re ready to get back to it, we’ve got suggestions to inspire you as well.

Resources to help you relax 

Books 

Making some time to read each day can positively affect mental health, lower stress levels and improve your concentration. But we don’t mean reading your textbooks or revision notes. We mean reading something you really want to read. And there are plenty of places on campus that you can pick up a new book.

• The Main Library has a fantastic range of fiction, art and design books, which you can borrow from any UCL Library via the Click and Collect service.
• Several libraries have fiction and well-being collections which you can browse during your study breaks.
• Book swaps are a great way to declutter your shelves and find brilliant new reads. Keep an eye on the UCL Libraries Instagram account to find out which UCL libraries are hosting book swaps.
• We also recommend joining your local public library. Anyone can join Camden and Islington libraries, while Westminster accepts anyone with a permanent UK address.

E-books and digital collections

Even if you’re not on campus, you can access a huge range of literature online.

• UCL Press – the world’s first fully open access university press has published 386 books which have been accessed over 10 million times.
• Digital Collections – many important items from our world-renowned Special Collections have been digitised, including rare books and art works related to Greek history, the Jeremy Bentham papers, and the George Orwell Archive – the most comprehensive body of research relating to George Orwell.
• Literature online (LION) - access more than 350,000 works spanning a huge array of literary movements, from Romanticism to Theatre of the Absurd.
• Oxford World's Classics - read over 450 great novels and other books spanning from the medieval period to the 20th century.

Study breaks

When you’re studying, taking regular breaks is important. There are plenty of things to do in or near UCL’s libraries when you’re in need of time away from the screen.

• It’s free to visit one of UCL’s museums, two of which are open Tuesday-Saturday. That means on your next study break you could be wondering at ancient Egyptian artefacts such as the oldest known woven clothing garment. Or marvelling at specimens like the infamous jar of moles from UCL’s very own natural history collection. Check museum opening times online before planning your visit. 
• If you’re after something more interactive, there are community jigsaws, origami materials, colouring resources and community games available in lots of the libraries across the UCL campus.

• Or if you’d prefer to get out in the fresh air, use Nearby Nature UCL to find green spaces in and around the UCL campus. Remember, spending time in nature has been proven to be good for your mental wellbeing and focus. 

Wellbeing events

Join the Grant Museum and the Petrie Museum at a relaxed, intergenerational workshop and get creative.

• Use discarded materials to make badges at the Grant Museum’s Badge Café.
• Join fellow students to build a biodiversity game with support from the Grant Museum team.
• Head to the Petrie Museum to make a lavender bag, traditionally used to help sleep. Booking information will be published shortly.
• Get chatting at a collaborative puppet making session and help create a puppet Pangolin – the only mammal completely covered in scales, thought to be the world’s most trafficked animal.

Resources to inspire you

If you’re ready to get back to your studies we’ve got plenty of resources which can help you get excited about your academic interests.

Magazines

Reading contemporary journalism is a great way to discover new perspectives, while magazine and newspaper archives are a rich resource for looking at social history.

• Newspapers – access thousands of current newspapers from around the world, as well as historical materials from leading publications such as the Financial Times, the Telegraph, and the Guardian.
• National Geographic – Read about interesting people, places, customs, activities and nature in the latest editions of the magazine, and archival copies spanning back to 1977.
• Vogue – We have every issue of Vogue from 1892, a brilliant resource for social history.
• New Scientist – Keep abreast of science and technology news from around the world.
• If you’re looking to explore outside of the mainstream, UCL Special Collections Small Press collection consists of underground newspapers with a political and countercultural emphasis, non-commercial periodicals, and avant-garde writing and visual work.
• We also have access to the The New Yorker, Forbes, London Review of Books and much more…

Films

UCL subscribes to several audio-visual databases which provide a rich selection of films and TV shows to support your studies.

• Kanopy – watch world cinema, cult classics, documentaries, and more.
• BFI Online (only available from the UK) - hundreds of exceptional films handpicked by the BFI and made available to UCL students and staff for academic purposes only.
• Bloomsbury Video Library: Arts and Humanities Collection – filmed performances and documentaries covering dance, music, visual arts, and film, as well as interviews with renowned arts practitioners.
• Shakespeare’s Globe on Screen: Drama Online – 30 productions from Shakespeare's Globe theatre.
• World Cinema Collection: Films on Demand – watch films from around the world, from the silent era to present day, plus interviews and commentary from filmmakers.