Taking exams can be overwhelming and stressful for everyone at times, but for some people just the thought of it can be enough to have them convinced they cannot succeed. There are many things that can lead to or worsen exam stress and for this reason, there is not one simple “cure all” to help sufferers.
However, here is a list of a few things that individuals CAN do, if they want to try to get themselves into the best position possible for success. What is important to note, for ALL of these suggestions, is that they are not a matter of flicking a switch and all is better. Exam stress, in general, is not created by a lack of sleep or hunger (that is more related to exam performance than stress management) and therefore won’t be cured by going to bed early the night before or eating a healthy breakfast (although obviously these things are highly recommended!). If you want to manage your exam stress you need to consider the elements that create or bring on that stress and build skills that help reduce or eliminate that stress! The goal of the list below is to make this clear and help provide some processes you can incorporate into your daily life.
Mindfulness and breathing.
- There are MANY more types of mindfulness – these are listed because they are ones you can practice in public. That is, you can engage with muscle tensing or mantra repetition (quietly) as you sit in an exam room without bothering a single other person in the space. Indeed, often without anyone having any idea you are even doing it.While dancing or tapping are also effective calming strategies, they are less useful in this particular situation.
Build up your capacity for selective attention.
- Selective attention generally refers to an individual’s ability to direct their attention to a particular source of information, or activity, while ignoring others which are occurring at the same time. For example, listening to the teach in class with complete focus and blocking out the laughter and noise of another class outside on the playground.
- For people who are weak with this particular skill, taking exams can be not only incredibly stressful but also ridiculously difficult. Every single sound they hear drags their attention away from the answer they are trying to craft and steals some of their response time along with potentially distressing them so much they are unable to maintain their engagement.
- Thankfully, this is one skill that can be developed and strengthened through deliberate practice. You are making active decisions to direct all of your focus to the relevant information, data or stimulus while ignoring the non-relevant content. This is a wilful, not accidental or automatic, act. Therefore, we can practice it and get better at it.
- Consider creating some of these situations to develop your selective attention:
- Work on a puzzle of some kind (sudoku, crossword, etc) that is complicated while someone near you is telling jokes.
- Read and summarise a textbook chapter while the television is on in the same room.
- Set a metronome going while you read a book aloud – try to read each word or syllable on the beat, off the beat, or while completely ignoring the beat.
- Try to memorise a list, series of flashcards or tray of items while people next to you are conducting a conversation.
Create and connect with your goals.
- Whenever you know an exam is upcoming, take the time to consider your goals associated with that subject in general and the exam in specific.
- In your initial stages of improving your stress, these goals may be related to your capacity to manage your stress as much as they are your desired grades or successes academically. This is entirely valid, and indeed, quite important!
- For example – I will use my breathing strategies when I enter the classroom and first sit down so that I can have a clear and calm mind when the exam commences.
- Remember when you are establishing your goal that it needs to have a few key features.
- Of course you need to say what result you wish to achieve, but also consider how realistic it is in context (ie – if you have received no better than a C in an exam before, now is not the time to demand an A of yourself)
- Decide what steps you are going to take to achieve it your goal. Will you study for 20 minutes 3 times a week? Will you post study cards all around your house? Will you ask a parent/carer to quiz you at random times? Will you request a practice question from your teacher and go through that? We don’t achieve our goals just by stating them – we achieve them by all of the things we put in place along the way.
- Consider using the SMART Goal strategy when you establish the goals – that is, make sure you goal is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time Bound.
Know everything you can about the exam prior to sitting it.
- One of the most common causes of stress and anxiety, in an exam or any situation really, is a lack of knowledge and understanding about the situation. If we don’t know what to expect, how to behave or the keys to success, wondering about the answers can lead to worrying about them and Hey Presto! we are stressed.
- Consider the various things you might want or need to know about an upcoming exam:
- Is there a practice test or revision sheet that I can use to help me prepare?
- Where (exactly) will the test take place? Is it in my usual classroom, the school hall or an external location?
- How many other students/test takers will be there?
- How many teachers/supervisors will be there?
- What equipment MUST I HAVE with me on the day to be successful? This is super important as there is nothing worse than running around 5 minutes before a test begging people to lend you a calculator!
- What items are prohibited in the test venue?
- How long will the test go for?
- Can I leave the room to get a drink or go to the bathroom if I need?
- Is the test taken pen and paper or online?
- Once you have your list of questions, take action to find out the answers. You may accomplish this by:
- Speaking with your classroom teacher or subject coordinator after class or during a lunch break.
- Emailing your classroom teacher or subject coordinator (I am personally a big fan of this because if they respond in kind you have a clear record of the answers and don’t have to worry that you missed something)
- Checking with the Guidance Counsellor, House Dean or Year Coordinator – this is particularly relevant for testing like NAPLAN (Australia) or SATs (America) that has a standardized process for the most part or is externally invigilated.
- Communicate with peers if you have missed any lessons to find out what instructions were given that lesson.
- Be sure to take note of the responses in your diary so that you can easily refer back to them and get yourself prepared for the big day.
I hope that trying a few of these suggestions will help you manage your exam stress and lead to improved success on exam day for you!
Remember, the key is to consider these various suggestions well in advance and practicing or developing each skill so that come exam day, it is so well ingrained that you’ll be able to automatically engage with the action you need to.
Good luck with whatever tests or exams lay ahead!