Short answer
No. Exams, a demanding job or long shifts are not, by themselves, valid reasons to skip a Ramadan fast. You must begin the fast. If, during the day, you reach the point of real harm, such as severe dehydration or fainting, you may break it and make up one day later, with no kaffarah.
Work and study are not excuses to leave the fast in advance. A person must make the intention and fast; if a real fear of harm arises during the day, based on clear signs, they may break the fast and owe qada only. A labourer whose work would certainly cause harm should first reduce hours, take leave or work at night where possible.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
Fasting in Ramadan is fard on every healthy, adult Muslim who is not travelling. Allah only asks of a soul what it can bear, and millions of students and workers fast every year while studying and working. The four schools agree that being busy or tired is not an excuse in itself.
Exams. Plan your revision around Ramadan: eat a proper suhoor, drink water through the night, sleep early, and study in your sharpest hours. Not fasting because you might struggle in an exam is not allowed. If on the day you become genuinely unwell, the rules for illness apply.
Heavy or long work. The Hanafi texts discuss the labourer whose work wears him down. He should arrange his work so that he can fast: lighter tasks, shorter hours, night shifts or leave. If he fasts and then reaches real harm, he may break the fast and make up the day, with no kaffarah, because he broke it out of need, not choice.
- Always start the day fasting.
- Break only for real harm, not hunger or tiredness.
- Make up any broken day later; see when to make up missed fasts.
Jobs that involve safety, such as pilots, surgeons and heavy machine operators, raise special questions, so ask a qualified mufti about your situation. For planning your days, try the Ramadan planner, and for illness, see fasting while sick.
Ask a mufti about your own case. This answer explains the general ruling. When the details of your situation matter, as they do here, ask a qualified mufti and give them the full facts. Where to ask a scholar.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Baqara 2:183
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ ﴿١٨٣﴾
O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous -
Fasting Ramadan is a duty on every believer who has no valid excuse.
Quran, Surah Al-Baqara 2:286
لَا يُكَلِّفُ ٱللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا ۚ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا ٱكْتَسَبَتْ ۗ رَبَّنَا لَا تُؤَاخِذْنَآ إِن نَّسِينَآ أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا ۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تَحْمِلْ عَلَيْنَآ إِصْرًۭا كَمَا حَمَلْتَهُۥ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِنَا ۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تُحَمِّلْنَا مَا لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِۦ ۖ وَٱعْفُ عَنَّا وَٱغْفِرْ لَنَا وَٱرْحَمْنَآ ۚ أَنتَ مَوْلَىٰنَا فَٱنصُرْنَا عَلَى ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ ﴿٢٨٦﴾
Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity. It will have [the consequence of] what [good] it has gained, and it will bear [the consequence of] what [evil] it has earned. "Our Lord, do not impose blame upon us if we have forgotten or erred. Our Lord, and lay not upon us a burden like that which You laid upon those before us. Our Lord, and burden us not with that which we have no ability to bear. And pardon us; and forgive us; and have mercy upon us. You are our protector, so give us victory over the disbelieving people."
The duty to fast is within capacity, and real harm brings a concession.
Sahih al-Bukhari 1904
Sahih... كل عمل ابن آدم له إلا الصيام فإنه لي وأنا أجزي به ...
"Allah said: Every deed of the son of Adam is for him, except fasting; it is for Me, and I will reward it."
Fasting has a special reward that makes the effort worthwhile.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Sawm, section on the excuses that permit not fasting. The labourer may not leave the fast before harm arises; if he fears harm during the day, he may break it and make it up.
- al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, Kitab al-Sawm, chapter on the excuses that permit not fasting. Only real fear of harm, not mere difficulty, permits breaking the fast.
This answer is pending review by the scholars on our team. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.