Britain Get Talking Supports Young People Through Exam Stress with Latest Campaign

ITV and STV’s landmark mental health campaign, Britain Get Talking, returns to help young people cope with the stress that comes from an impending, often high pressure exam season. According to a YouGov survey of UK adults, over two thirds (72%) of UK parents with children aged 14–18 say that exam stress is causing their children concern at the moment*.

The multi-platform campaign titled ‘No Silence Please’ is created by Uncommon Creative Studio and supported by Mind, YoungMinds and SAMH, launches this Mental Health Awareness week and will feature across press, radio, social, TV and out of home.

The campaign encourages conversations between children and their parents and carers by reinforcing the power of a proper chat to help make young people’s worries more manageable.

The creative draws on instantly-recognisable exam cues — a science exam paper, an audio tape from a language exam, a poster on the exam door — to reinforce that heart-pounding fear that exams can evoke.

In press, we see relatable exam paper layouts create the copy and visuals for the artwork — including a drawing of a student’s heart during an exam with copy reflecting how a student might feel during an exam from ‘palpitations’ to ‘racing’.

The campaign includes a series of powerful radio edits that mimic a language exam — the voice over verbally describes how a student may feel from a churning in their stomach to a shaking in their hands or the little voice inside their heads that mutters ‘Du bist ein idiot’. The radio then goes on to remind student they’ve got this and a proper chat can ease exam stress. There is a French, German and Spanish execution.

The campaign also includes an ITV promo, in which we see a ‘No Silence Please: Exams in Progress’ poster being put up on an exam hall door, flipping a familiar message on its head to remind audiences that this exam season children, parents and carers should be anything but silent when it comes to talking about how they are feeling.

Audiences are being signposted to the campaign website itv.com/BritainGetTalking for further support on how to facilitate those conversations.

Susie Braun, director of social purpose at ITV said: “Exams are a huge cause of stress for young people right now and as a parent it can be hard to know how to help. This campaign shows that simply talking about the difficult topics on our mind is often the best way to make it more manageable.”

Bobby Hain, managing director of broadcast at STV, said: “As we approach exam season in Scotland, it’s more important than ever to talk to young people to help make sense of their worries and manage their stress. This campaign, as with all our Britain Get Talking initiatives, highlights the fact that just a simple chat can make the world of difference to mental health.”

Tom Madders, director of communications and campaigns at YoungMinds, continued: “More young people than ever are struggling with their mental health. The pressure to catch-up on lost learning time because of the pandemic is just one of the challenges young people are facing and with exam time upon us, many students will be experiencing overwhelming stress. Conversations can help young people feel reassured and we hope this campaign will encourage more people to get talking.”

Dr Sarah Hughes, chief executive of Mind, added: This generation has been under immense pressure at school in the last few years, and record numbers are struggling with their mental health. That’s why it’s so important to check in about how young people are feeling and to let them know they can also start the conversation. This campaign is a reminder of how powerful it can be when you talk things through with someone.”

Billy Watson, chief executive of SAMH concluded: “Right now, thousands of young people in Scotland will be feeling the pressure as they sit their final exams and anticipate the results. Talking can help put things into perspective for young people. We hope that this campaign will help to open up honest conversations between young people and the adults in their lives.”

This is the second year that ITV will be shining a light on the mental health crisis faced by young people specifically, and encouraging parents and carers to keep taking the time to break through. According to YoungMinds, one in six children aged five to sixteen were identified as having a probable mental health problem in 2021; that’s five children in every classroom and a huge increase from one in nine in 2017.

Britain Get Talking originally launched in October 2019 and forms part of ITV’s wider social purpose goal to encourage the nation to look after their mental and physical health. In 2022, 7 million people connected with others as a result of the initiative, which remains the UK’s most well-known mental health campaign.