What you eat on exam morning is a marginal gain, and marginal gains are what decide close grades. Across twenty exams a two or three percent difference in each is a grade. You wake having not eaten for eleven or twelve hours, so skipping breakfast means sitting a paper on empty. Slow-release food beats fruit and sugar, which spike then drop about an hour into the paper.

What are marginal improvements?

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There's a concept applied in high-level sports called micro-adjustments. At the very highest levels of competition, take the Tour de France for example, 1st place is won by a battle of inches.

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For athletes that are competing against players who have just as much talent and work ethic as them the difference between 1st place and 2nd place are the results of micro-adjustments that are made in training camps.

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Michael Jordan's trainer used to count the exact number of steps he took with each leg during a game and at what angle to formulate a workout plan that could train each muscle to work at the optimum rate and reduce the chance of overuse injuries. In the overall landscape of his career, it was the day to day shooting and drilling that made Michael Jordan as good as he was, but this micro adjustment made him slightly better, as he was less likely to get injured so he could train more and his movement on the court was more efficient.

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While your exam may not be the hyper-competitive environment that the Tour de France or the NBA are, working for marginal improvements in performance is important. Ultimately, whilst the biggest decider in your grades is the hard work and commitment, the little tweak here and there may be the thing that pushes you into that A or A*. If you are taking 20 or so exams, the micro-adjustments will be what leads to an overall 2 or 3 % higher mark in each of those individual assessments.

Breakfast is a must on the day of any exam. There are a plethora of scientific studies which can attest to the importance of breakfast and it is regularly touted as the most important meal of the day.

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The science behind the why is simple. Most people eat at around 8 or 9 pm and then go to sleep at maybe 10-11 pm. After that, your body doesn’t receive any more nutrition whilst you are sleeping so all of your glucose is either used up or converted into glycogen.

Once you wake up it's been 11-12 hours since your last meal. Now if you decide to just go without breakfast then your brain will have a very small amount of glucose left over to use for solving for x or balancing equations.

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Breakfast has been shown to increase alertness, long-term memory performance, and cognition. All of these traits are clearly very valuable when it comes to exams, so what should you be eating at breakfast time to maximise the benefits on your brainpower?

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The best things to eat for breakfast are slow-release carbohydrates - porridge, granola, muesli, etc. You shouldn't be feeling lethargic but you shouldn't be feasting to the point of feeling bloated or sleepy. Foods high in fibre, like oatmeal, are a great choice as your brain will get a steady source of energy. Fruits might sound like a good idea but these are very high in sugar and you end up getting that rapid increase in energy but 1 hour into your exam it might all come falling down and cut your performance drastically.

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Eggs are also a great option. They give you omega 3 fatty acids which are important for your brain in terms of cognitive performance and memory.

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During your exam remember to stay hydrated and also maybe pack a cereal bar to eat in the day to maintain a healthy blood glucose level.

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That being said, I also know many of you are fasting so in that scenario, what should you be doing?

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Well first off, don't skip Suhoor. As I, you need glucose for your brain to work at peak performance so it is not very smart to just eat 1 meal a day.

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Remember you don't just need enough nutrition to last your exams, but also for when you come back home and start studying for the next one. Ideally, eat high fiber and high protein foods for Suhoor. The slow release of energy will make sure you can work at a decent level throughout the day and you shouldn't feel that hungry until an hour or so before you break your fast.

Also, drink plenty of water during the eating window. It's getting very hot outside and it is not ideal for you guys to be on the verge of collapsing during an exam.

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Ok, this next one is a tough one in Asian households; when breaking your fast don’t overload with oily or sugary foods. These will make you tired very quickly and you won't be able to squeeze out another hour or so of revision just before you go to sleep. We only have a short window of time to eat so make the best use of it.

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This document is a great guide to the different sorts of nutrition you should be taking in at Suhoor and Iftar. It is actually made for pro athletes, but as an aspiring A/A* student you should be making a diet plan intended for squeezing out peak performance!

What else is worth reading?

What can this guide not tell you, and who should you ask instead?

This is general information, not medical advice, and we are a tutoring company rather than a health service. If any of this is affecting daily life, sleep or eating, speak to a GP or use the NHS mental health pages. In a crisis, call 111.

The NHS sets a number for this, and it asks adults to:

“do at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity a week or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity a week” — NHS, Physical activity guidelines for adults

Where can you check this at source?

Diet and sleep advice should come from the health service rather than from a revision blog. These are the NHS pages behind it: