This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: A seven-minute virtual reality (VR) intervention can help students feel calmer, less anxious and better able to cope with academic pressure, according to new research from City St George's. The findings, published in Scientific Reports, come at a time when schools and universities across the U.K. seek new approaches to support student well-being amid growing concerns about stress, anxiety and overwhelm among young people.
A recent Teacher Tapp survey of more than 5,700 teachers found that 56% had seen mental health issues linked to exam anxiety among Year 11 pupils this academic year, while 48% reported students missing school because of exam anxiety. More than half (54%) said alternative exam arrangements had been needed due to anxiety, and 17% reported students being withdrawn from GCSE exams altogether because of anxiety. In England alone, the number of university students with a mental health condition has almost quadrupled in the decade to 2023/24, while 57% of respondents in a 2022 Student Minds mental health charity survey self-reported a mental health issue.
This VR experience could help address this problem. Researchers evaluated an immersive seven-minute VR well-being program developed by health technology company Phase Space and co-created with students to help manage exam stress. The experience combines established stress-management techniques, including breathing exercises, visualization and positive coping strategies, with immersive audio and visual effects designed to create a sense of calm and focus.
The trial recruited 131 health care students from City St George's. Participants were randomly assigned to either use a VR headset (67 students) or to view the same content on a smartphone (64 students) over five consecutive days. Before and after each session, students were asked to report how calm, stressed and anxious they felt.
Researchers also measured their perceived stress, well-being and depressive symptoms at the start of the study and at follow-up two weeks later using established mental health questionnaires commonly used in psychiatry research and clinical settings. Both groups reported benefits, but students using VR experienced significantly greater immediate reductions in stress and anxiety and greater increases in calmness and happiness. Students who completed the VR intervention continued to report reduced levels of perceived stress at the two-week follow-up, suggesting the benefits extended beyond the immediate sessions.
Students in the VR headset group felt more "immersed" and there were no reports of cybersickness. Qualitative analysis provided further insight into how students experienced the intervention. Almost nine in 10 students using VR (89%) said it had made a real difference to how they felt, compared with 34% of students who watched the same content on a smartphone.
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