Study Says: It's Really Hard to Ace Tests While Hay Fever Is Torturing You

Finally, researchers have confirmed what a million allergy sufferers could’ve already told you: It’s really hard to complete a final exam when you can’t stop sneezing and your whole face feels swollen and your eyes itch like you’ve got chicken pox on your retinas. IT SUCKS.

The BBC reports on a new study from researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, presented at the European Economic Association conference.

Using the results of public exams in Norway over three years, researchers found that on days with high pollen levels exam performance was consistently lower.

There was an average performance dip of 2.5% on high pollen days – and researchers estimate that for pupils with an allergic reaction results were lowered by about 10%.

“Increases in pollen counts can temporarily reduce cognitive abilities for allergic students, who will score worse relative to their peers on high stake exams, and consequently be at a disadvantage when competing for jobs or higher education,” according to the report. The author suggests that spring might just not be a great time for important exams.

Dealing with snot everywhere in a three-foot radius might be distracting? You don’t say!