Test anxiety can appear before, during, or after an exam. When it rears its ugly head, remember to practice self-compassion, to focus on helpful strategies for success, and to seek help when needed.
Test anxiety can appear before, during, or after an exam. When it rears its ugly head, remember to practice self-compassion, to focus on helpful strategies for success, and to seek help when needed.
Ahead of an exam, students experience test anxiety for many reasons. Perfectionism leads some students to believe that their test performance won’t be good enough to meet their exacting standards. For other students, they are not familiar enough with the test material, resulting in a lack of confidence about their abilities. Some students might not have studied at all because their belief that they will never understand the material well enough has led to procrastination.
While there are many contributors to test anxiety, arming yourself with strategies can help you work your way through it. Preparation, organization, and practice can boost confidence by helping you focus on what you have control over rather than on the “unknowns” posed by your exam.
Below are some strategies for dealing with anxiety before an exam:
When a test is still a long way out, studying is less likely to make you feel anxious because the stakes of your learning don’t feel as intense or immediate. Even just knowing that you’ve started studying early can do a lot to relieve test anxiety.
Check out the ARC webpage on Memory and Attention for some memorization tips; practicing some of these memorization strategies can help you feel more confident about the effectiveness of your studying.
During an exam, it’s natural to feel the effects of increased adrenaline as you try to complete your work. Negative thoughts might circulate, your mind might go blank, or you might fear that you’ll run out of time. To mitigate the impact of these events, come prepared with some strategies to enact in the moment.
Below are some strategies for dealing with anxiety during an exam:
After a test, it’s not uncommon for students to dwell in uncertainty about their grade, experience regret about a lack of preparation, or beat themselves up for a mistake.
Below are some ways to tackle post-test anxiety: