London’s Oxford Street is set for one of its biggest transformations in decades, with cars, buses, taxis and bicycles banned from a major section from 26 October 2026.

Almost one kilometre of the famous shopping street, running between Orchard Street near Selfridges and Great Portland Street, will become traffic-free. The change forms part of Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan’s plans to turn Oxford Street into a more pedestrian-friendly destination and comes just weeks before the busy Christmas shopping season.

The move will not mean the entire length of Oxford Street is pedestrianised. However, it will remove vehicles from one of its busiest sections and significantly change how shoppers, commuters, buses and taxis move through the West End.

Buses, taxis and cars removed from Oxford Street

From Monday 26 October, vehicles will no longer be able to travel along Oxford Street between Orchard Street and Great Portland Street. Buses will stop serving the affected stretch from the evening of Sunday 25 October, with preparations for the changes beginning a day earlier.

Affected bus services will instead be diverted onto surrounding roads, with new stops introduced on streets including Wigmore Street, Henrietta Place and Cavendish Place. Alternative bus stops will generally be around 200 metres from the traffic-free area, while Tube and rail services will continue operating normally.

Taxis, bicycles and other vehicles will also be diverted away from the pedestrianised section. Emergency vehicles will retain access, while controlled arrangements will remain for essential services such as refuse collection and street cleaning.

The changes are expected to create considerably more space for pedestrians on a street that attracts huge numbers of visitors. Oxford Street receives around half a million visitors each day, according to figures reported by ITV News.

New-look Oxford Street will be tested before permanent changes

The October launch marks the beginning of a phased transformation rather than the finished version of the new Oxford Street.

Initial changes will be temporary, allowing officials to assess how pedestrians, businesses, workers, residents and accessibility groups use the newly traffic-free space. Further improvements are expected to include seating and rest areas, trees and clearer signage.

Not everyone has welcomed the plans. Westminster City Council has previously raised concerns about accessibility, changes to bus routes and the impact on residents and surrounding streets. TfL’s modelling acknowledges that some nearby roads will experience increased traffic but says the wider impact should be manageable.

University admissions tests can place months of preparation into a single timed sitting. That pressure may sharpen your concentration at first, but too much can disrupt recall, slow your reading and make familiar questions seem unusually difficult. This cognitive overload can even manifest as a persistent feeling of needing to double-check your work. It can also affect your confidence, making straightforward decisions feel more complicated and causing you to waste valuable time on individual questions.

A practical response combines realistic preparation with techniques that keep your mind and body steady. You need to understand the test, practise under accurate conditions and develop routines that still work when nerves appear. Regular practice can also make the exam environment feel more familiar, reducing uncertainty and helping you respond more effectively when pressure builds. The aim is controlled performance, not the complete absence of stress.

Understanding High-Stakes Environments

A high-stakes exam feels different because the result may influence access to a preferred university or course. Admissions tests such as the LNAT, ESAT, TMUA and TARA also present tasks in strict time limits, often using formats that candidates don’t regularly encounter at school. Uncertainty about the questions can amplify the pressure.

Stress activates the body’s threat response. Your heart rate may rise, your breathing can become shallow and your attention may narrow. A moderate level of alertness can help you concentrate, but intense anxiety consumes working memory. That leaves less mental capacity for interpreting a dense passage, planning an essay or checking a calculation.

Start by separating useful concerns from imagined outcomes. A useful concern sounds like, “I lose time on longer reading passages.” You can address it through timed practice and a clear skipping strategy. An imagined outcome sounds like, “One difficult section will ruin everything.” That thought predicts a result without evidence and offers no action.

Create a one-page test profile that records the exam length, section order, permitted materials and timing. Add the date, venue or online arrangements and identification requirements. Check all details against official information from the relevant test provider.

This simple task reduces avoidable uncertainty. It also helps you identify what the exam actually demands, which may differ from general academic ability. Once the environment becomes familiar, pressure has fewer unknowns on which to feed.

Techniques for Managing Exam Nerves

Use calming methods during practice so they become familiar before the real exam. Trying a breathing exercise for the first time outside the test centre is unlikely to produce much confidence. Repetition turns it into a reliable response.

Slow breathing is a useful starting point. Inhale gently for four seconds, then exhale for six seconds. Repeat this five times without forcing a deep breath. The longer exhalation can help settle physical arousal, while counting gives your attention a neutral task. Guidance on managing exam stress also highlights preparation, sleep and relaxation as practical parts of anxiety control.

If your mind goes blank during a test, pause for around 20 seconds. Place both feet on the floor, release tension in your jaw and identify the exact instruction in front of you. Then complete the smallest available action, such as underlining a key term or ruling out one answer. Action often restores momentum more effectively than trying to force instant recall.

Build a short pre-exam routine as well. For example:

• Pack required items and check travel details the evening before
• Eat a familiar breakfast that you know sits comfortably
• Arrive with enough time to settle, without creating a long wait
• Avoid comparing revision totals with other candidates
• Use the same breathing pattern practised during mock exams

Reliable exam stress techniques also include regular breaks and realistic study goals. If anxiety repeatedly affects your sleep, appetite or daily life, speak to a GP, counsellor or trusted member of staff. Extra support is a sensible performance measure, not evidence that you have failed to cope.

Strategic Preparation for Admissions Tests

Begin with a diagnostic paper under timed conditions. Record more than the total mark. For every missed question, classify the cause as a knowledge gap, reasoning error, misread instruction, timing problem or careless slip. These categories show where your next study hour will have the greatest value.

A student preparing for a two-hour test might discover that most lost marks occur in the final 15 minutes. More untimed study won’t necessarily fix that pattern. The better response could involve shorter timed sets, earlier decisions about difficult questions and a checkpoint for each section.

Use university admissions test preparation when you need realistic questions, worked explanations, adaptive sessions, mock exams and progress tracking for tests including the LNAT, ESAT, TMUA and TARA. The value of structured practice comes from reviewing why an answer worked, then applying that reasoning to a new problem. Merely accumulating completed questions can hide repeated mistakes.

Plan revision backwards from the test date. During the first stage, learn the format and strengthen weak skills without severe time pressure. Move into timed sets once your method is sound. In the final weeks, complete full mock exams at the same time of day as the actual test where possible.

Keep an error log with four columns: question type, mistake, correct method and action for next time. The final column must be specific. “Read more carefully” is difficult to apply, while “circle words such as *except* before reading the options” gives you a clear behaviour.

Protect sleep during this schedule. Late-night cramming may add another hour of exposure to the material, but poor rest can weaken attention and recall the next day. Advice on staying focused under pressure reinforces the value of organised study, breaks and physical care. Finish demanding work at a consistent time and give yourself a brief wind-down period before bed.

Beyond the Score: Building Resilience

Resilience grows when you examine setbacks accurately and adjust your behaviour. A disappointing mock score contains information about your current performance under those particular conditions. Treat it as a data point, then inspect the section breakdown before changing your entire study plan.

Suppose your score falls from 65% to 58% in one week. Check whether the second paper included weaker topics, whether you slept poorly or whether stricter timing exposed a pacing problem. Complete another comparable set after addressing the likely cause. Trends across several papers are more useful than a single result.

Set process goals that remain within your control. These might include completing three focused sessions per week, reviewing every incorrect answer within 24 hours and sitting one full mock each fortnight. An offer or test score depends on several factors, while those behaviours can be completed and measured directly.

Recovery also belongs in the plan. Schedule exercise, meals and contact with friends or family as fixed parts of the week. Short breaks protect concentration and give revision clear boundaries. If guilt follows every hour away from a desk, your schedule probably asks for more focused work than you can sustain.

After the test, write down anything that may help with future assessments, then stop reconstructing every answer. Admissions decisions consider the requirements and selection methods of each course, and no amount of post-exam analysis can change a submitted paper. Return your attention to schoolwork, applications and ordinary routines.

On the morning itself, follow the system you rehearsed: check the instructions, settle your breathing and start with the question in front of you. A familiar process gives you something dependable to do even when the result still matters deeply.

A new excise duty on vaping products has come into force in the UK today, 1 October 2026, to reduce the affordability and appeal of vaping, especially to young people and non-smokers.

Vaping Products Duty is charged at £2.20 per 10ml of vaping liquid and will be paid by manufacturers, importers and warehousekeepers approved by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). It is a commercial decision whether the duty cost is passed on to retailers and consumers.

HMRC has also launched the Vaping Duty Stamps Scheme. Once fully rolled out, vaping duty stamps will provide digital traceability throughout the supply chain, enhancing consumer protection, and helping the high street by strengthening the fight against illicit trade. This will also support the government’s commitment to back legitimate businesses, crack down on rogue operators and create fairer, safer high streets.

To support businesses, HMRC has introduced a six-month grace period meaning wholesalers and retailers can sell any existing eligible unstamped, non-duty liable, stock until 31 March 2027.

But from 1 April 2027, all vaping products sold in the UK must carry a valid vaping duty stamp and consumers should only buy duty-stamped vaping products. Anyone who suspects a vaping product may be illicit can report it to HMRC.

Tobacco duty rates have increased today to maintain the financial incentive for current tobacco smokers to switch to vaping. This is a one-off (pro-rata) increase of £2.20 per 100 cigarettes or per 50 grams of tobacco, in addition to the standard tobacco duty escalator.

“These measures are an important step in our ambition to tackle youth vaping by reducing the affordability of vaping products, which goes hand-in-hand with the work we are already doing to tackle the appeal and availability of vapes on our high streets,” says Karin Smyth, Minister of State for Health.