Examination Anxiety: Live With It, Control It Or Make It Work For You?

Abstract

This research investigated factors affecting examination anxiety and aimed to increase schools’ understanding of this topic. The study was a school-based initiative, evaluating intervention strategies to help secondary pupils with the self-management of their examination anxiety. The study compared the effects of a range of approaches on participants’ performance in the GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) examinations, on their self-reported examination anxiety and on their behaviour. Intervention strategies had previously been trialled in a smaller group pilot study. Data suggest that interventions using cognitive behavioural approaches combined with relaxation helped pupils to improve their examination performance in Maths. Findings also suggest an interaction between pre-anxiety level and performance, suggesting that it is not minimal, but optimal anxiety which leads to better examination performance. Results encourage the view that school-based programmes using mixed interventions may be effective in the prevention of excessive examination anxiety and in the improvement of examination performance if compared to single interventions, but show variations depending on the curriculum subject. There is evidence from the literature that Maths anxiety in particular may have considerable life impact, and that levels of Maths anxiety have been shown to predict later career choices in American adolescents.