Exam season. When you’ve had enough of revising and your bleary eyes can barely discern the inane drivel scrawled on your notebooks, it’s definitely time to drag yourself out of the library and get a well-deserved breath of fresh air. But you’re not free yet; with exams looming - even though it’s the weekend - now is not the time to hit the ales with your mates or dance until the crack of dawn.

Yet come Saturday evening, when those less committed students file out of the library to go out shaking their groove, the temptation to join them and say the hell with good marks, a good career and the chance to live the good life is nearly overpowering. You do need a break from studying after all, don’t you?

To keep you on the straight and narrow we offer some alternate Saturday night activities for this important time when keeping all of your brain cells is crucial. Save them up now and blow the lot when your parents’ pride in you is not on the line. Instead of hoofing it to the pub, try these tamer night-time exploits. They’re not the sexiest of weekend activities, but they are guaranteed hangover free.

Bat watching

- Take a stroll with a group of batty individuals to look for these flying mammals in the evenings at Holland Park.

- In Kent the bat watchers are also conservationists, surveying the animals and monitoring their numbers. You can tag along even if you aren’t a “bat worker” or don’t have a “bat roost” as some of their membership, oddly enough, does.

Evening birdsong

- In mid-May, London’s Wildlife and Wetlands Trust centre stays open later on Thursdays so you can wander around at dusk and hear the birds call to each other in the darkening air. Bliss.

Guided walks

- Scare yourself silly on a cheap and cheerful ghost walk through London, which should help forget the terror of Monday’s looming exam. Added bonus is getting to laugh at the bamboozled tourists.

Night hikes

- Warwick and Swansea universities’ hiking clubs have night hike expeditions, as do many Scout societies. In your uni hiking club, you’ll meet similarly frazzled study-breakers and feel less guilty for prying your self away from your desk. Check out if your own uni has one as well.

Evening biking

- In Glasgow you can join up with sharp-eyed cyclists who take to the paths as the sun begins to set. Most bike rides are for later in the summer when it’s a bit brighter but evening classes can help you unwind, even if you don’t get much mileage.

- Cardiff offers the same evening cycling with an added socially-conscious aspect; they aim to improve the lot for Welsh cyclists and the environment in turn. Do good and do you head good too.

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