A student walks into the exam hall in June having had five years of good teaching behind them. Some of them don’t perform anywhere close to what that teaching should produce, and the reason often has nothing to do with what they know.
Wellbeing and mindset are not soft add-ons to exam performance. They’re inputs. A student who is anxious, disengaged, or carrying pressure they can’t name will underperform against their own capability, regardless of how well they’ve been taught. Our logic model for this is a simple one:
Wellbeing + Mindset = Performance
A gap nobody is currently filling
Careers advice exists. Revision clubs exist. Pastoral support exists. A school function that is only now starting to emerge is Mindset Coaching for exams. A structured, weekly, named-mentor intervention that treats exam readiness as a wellbeing and mindset problem rather than a knowledge or content problem, delivered specifically in the run-up to Year 11 exams. We have been asked to look at this space by a number of clients and are excited about the impact it can have on exam results, educational destinations and future trajectories.
How it works
From February 2027, a dedicated LEAP Mentor works one day a week in a school for three half terms, Spring 1 through to Summer 1, finishing as exams begin. The Evolve Development Tracker identifies which of your Year 11s are carrying hidden barriers to performance. The mentor then works weekly with an identified caseload, on mindset coaching, exam preparedness and destination planning, built on the same Logic Model behind our LEAP 16+ Transition programme.
Why three half terms and not a full year
Because that’s what the problem needs. This isn’t a whole-cohort, whole-year commitment. It’s a targeted window, timed to the exact period where mindset work has the most leverage on exam outcomes, with a defined start and end.
What it protects
Attainment data, most directly. A cohort that’s had five years of investment and support deserves the best chance of showing it in the summer. There’s also a second, longer benefit. The same learners at risk of underperforming in June are disproportionately the ones at risk of becoming NEET after results day, so this work sits upstream of a problem your local authority is already being held to account for.
Funding
The Inclusive Mainstream Fund is the natural route for this. Schools hold their own ring-fenced IMF allocation, and FE colleges hold a parallel 16-19 allocation, both running for the next two years. Either route funds targeted, evidence-informed support without drawing on an already stretched pastoral budget.
If this landed in your inbox
Forward it to your Head of Year 11 or Head of Assessment. If you’re that person and this has been forwarded to you, get in touch directly using leap@evolvesi.com.