Early morning exams may be more than a strain on your brain during finals week, but also to your grades.

According to an article in the Daily Mail, Oxford University neuroscientist Russell Foster, said teenagers follow different sleep patterns from adults – making them more alert in the afternoon than in the morning.

Researchers found that students’ performance in exams also went down when they took them in the morning compared to the afternoon, the article stated.

“Teenagers’ body clocks can be delayed between two and four hours and they don’t start to function until 10am or as late as noon,” Foster said in the interview.

Studies in Germany and America show that when schools change start times to later, exam success go up and truancy and depression go down, Foster said.

According to an article in Examined Existence, “older adults tend to be morning types, while younger adults show an opposite pattern.”

When tested at various points throughout the day, both young and older adults showed dramatic differences in memory performance. The younger people tested showed improvement as the day progressed, while older people generally exhibited a decline, the article stated.

According to the article, these patterns suggest that the morning may be the best time for older adults to undertake challenging cognitive tasks, and that the late afternoon or evening may be best for younger people.

Unfortunately it is not likely that early morning exam times will change, because the demand for class space continues to increase, said Shawna Saad assistant registrar.

“If you view the final exam schedule you will see that the final exam is slated to match the start time of the course. If a student has difficulties with that time period it may be beneficial for them to consider enrolling in a different section of the course if it is available,” she said.

Sam Eastman a sophomore in accounting took his final exam time into account when he signed up for classes for spring semester.

“I think it makes sense because for the most part, my class is in the morning so I think that when you take an early morning class it’s kind of just part of life that you’re going to have early morning tests,” Eastman said.

If that is going to be something that will be problematic then you are going to have to understand that when you are signing up for classes, he said.

“I think that as long as you aren’t taking a four o’clock class and having an exam at 7:30 it couldn’t really be considered unfair because, you should be used to functioning around the time of when your regular class meets,” Eastman said.

However, for other students it’s difficult to rally for what final exams ask of them in the early morning.

Maria Mayland a freshman in child, adult, and family services is one of those students.

“I think any exam before 8:30 is to early. Nine is the perfect time because it’s not crazy early, but it also doesn’t make you have to wait all day,” she said.

If a change could be made, early morning exams would be completely eliminated.

“There is no need for exams to be too early and too late. I think exams times should be from 9-5 because you can sleep in and you don’t have to wait all day for a night exam, Mayland said.

It is proven that students preform better later in the day, so if anything could be done about changing the times, it should be done. Students will be better accommodated with a change in final times and students would have a better chance at performing better on final exams.