the areas covered in the exam, Lack of support: the student did not have someone to talk to (friends or teaching staff) about the exam, Mind wandered in the exam: the student’s concentration lapsed and they were unable to work well, Poor time management in the exam: student spent too long on one question and ran out of time, Fear of failure: student was so worried about failing the exam that they could not work effectively, Bad luck: areas that the student had not revised came up in the exam, and Exam failure: failure in past exams causes failure in future exams.