School of PE Blog

There are many reasons why a person might fail an exam. They include lack of preparation, lack of interest, procrastination, poor time management, and a myriad of others. It all leads to one state of being on exam day: stress. It is such a big problem that test anxiety has been recognized by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America as a legitimate anxiety disorder that leads to negative test results and unhealthy testers.

In fact, a study titled Testing, Stress, and Performance: How Students Respond Psychologically to High-Stakes Testing, by Jennifer Heissel and her team, measured the level of cortisol in testers in the weeks surrounding an exam and found that cortisol levels were elevated significantly before an exam when compared to baseline tests. Those with an increase of cortisol had significantly reduced test scores, leading to the conclusion that the test was not an accurate representation of the tester’s skills or ability.

In order to gain an accurate representation of knowledge gained, it’s important to understand where your stress is coming from and how to work around it. Regardless of the reason for the elevated stress levels, it’s important to understand your root cause of exam anxiety and learn tips to overcome test stress.

Exam anxiety can be eliminated, or at least mitigated, by knowing the purpose behind the exam itself. Fear of failing the test can lead many qualified professionals away from their desired career path, which is a disservice to them, as well as the many people they’d be helping along the way. A nursing exam, for one, can be a gateway to many opportunities in the medical field that can lead to a rewarding lifelong career, but the stress of first preparing and then taking the exam gives so many people pause, and they put it off far too long.

So, let’s get the main trick out of the way first. Know why you’re taking the exam. Cliché, maybe. Justifiable reasoning, yes. Knowing why you’re taking the exam and what you’ll do with the certification will help you know the level of preparation needed and the level of appropriate stress that makes sense for the situation.

For instance, a simple school test feels like higher stakes for a student than it does for a qualified and knowledgeable professional because, generally speaking, the student’s graduation hinges on the successful demonstration of their knowledge. The diploma is their gateway to many possible careers. The stress level would be higher for the students because there is greater pressure on them.

In order to eliminate the stress surrounding tests, it’s important to understand why you’re anxious in the first place.

Is it that you didn’t prepare? Lack of adequate preparation is one of the leading causes of exam anxiety. Simply not knowing the content that’s in a test leads to failure, so not being prepared can have major consequences on one's emotional state. Exams are different from practical application events, where knowledge is given in a presentation style. The exam has specific information that must be demonstrated for a passing grade.

In order to prepare better, you can find many online programs to help, such as School of PE’s review courses for many professional certifications. With guides and practice exams that enable you to test your knowledge in a low-stress environment, you’ll be able to eliminate one reason for text stress. Oftentimes, simulating the environment in which the test will take place can help eliminate the unknown of the situation. Preparation is one way to control what you can when things feel out of control.

Is it that you feel like you don’t have enough time to prepare? It can feel like there is so much information you’re required to know. There are dozens of books, research articles, and studies you need to read before the big day, not to mention practice exams and other useful test prep resources, that can feel overwhelming. As hard as test-taking is, it’s sometimes not even the highest priority in a person’s life, and there has to be a balance in the time taken to prepare.

Adequate time management is key in making it a higher priority and enabling you with enough preparation. Block off time, and make sure that the people in your life know that during that time, you need to be left alone. If you don’t have large chunks of time, make sure you have materials with you wherever you are to practice in the small moments in between the larger events.

Is it because you lack confidence in your own ability? Truthfully, this one also comes down to preparation. However, another reason that people feel test stress is because, while they’re knowledgeable and have a deep understanding of the subject material, their confidence in their own ability can sometimes be a hindrance.

This is where practice exams can really come in clutch. Practicing the actual event and getting those test scores back can give you confidence in your ability, especially if the score comes back with favorable scores.

Are you easily distracted by other things? Distraction can play a major role in stress levels, both in practice and in the actual testing event. Anything from family, movies, music, and environmental input can slow progress and leave you feeling anxious like you have no time left in a bad way.

Eliminating distractions wherever you’re able to can reduce this type of anxiety, enabling you to enter the exam space with a cool, level head and ace the test.

Is your life outside of the exam consistent or consistently turbulent? In the same study of the cortisol levels of students, one factor that came into play was their home life. Students with overly turbulent home and social lives were more likely to feel anxiety surrounding tests than their overall less stressed counterparts. These stressors were their poverty level, parental input, and their social status among their peers.

There are things that are obviously out of our control, and these are great examples of stress contributors, but one thing that is within our control is the response to our situation and what input we allow to affect us in different ways. Although sometimes easier said than done, using meditation and other types of chemical balancing practices can help keep internal stress low while the outside stressors are high.

Do you have a procrastinator personality? Procrastination can be a valuable tool when used correctly. It’s often seen as a negative personality trait, but those with it work well on a deadline, completing assignments with success and a consistent quality level. This can even benefit those procrastinators when they understand how they work. They may do well under pressure, but only when they understand themselves.

As a general rule, however, procrastination is a detriment to most people. It causes them to fail because of their lack of adequate preparation. Waiting until the last minute is fine with small assignments, but when volume is the name of the game, they’ve lost. One reason behind procrastination is actually the anxiety of getting started: of making the first move. This is particularly impactful during preparation and can lead to feelings of inadequacy and, therefore, anxiety about the test.

Eliminate the procrastination effect by not even thinking about the first steps. In this scenario, the best solution is to just start. Get the momentum going, and the rest will follow.

What strategies do you have in place? Sometimes, test-taking comes down to the strategies you have in place to eliminate the reasons for stress. If you stress over the environment while testing and get distracted by little things, see if the proctor is okay with bringing something small that enables you to focus better. If you stress over the final results, going prepared with the knowledge you need to succeed will help eliminate the stress as well. Putting a plan in place to build confidence in your overall experience.

Do you simply get anxiety around the whole situation? Sometimes, and it doesn’t matter what preparation has gone into the task, some people simply get anxious and stressed when an exam is looming. They can have everything in place and do all the right things leading up to the exam itself, but they still feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of questions on the exam or the weight of what it’ll do for their future.

In the end, exam anxiety can be reduced by adequate preparation, resources, and discipline. By using the resources available to you and practicing discipline in every facet of your life, you can control the outcome of the exam just a little more. Exam anxiety is one of the biggest reasons that professionals don’t go for their career goals, but it shouldn’t be. Using these tactics to understand your anxiety and move past it will bring you one step closer to taking and passing these important tests.

Get prepared for your exam with the leader in FE and PE exam prep, School of PE. Our courses have been created by our subject-matter expert instructors, who are committed to helping you pass!