How to get rid of exam anxiety?
Here is some good advice on how to avoid exam anxiety from Pro-Rector Hanne Leth Andersen. Together with Jens Tofteskov of the Copenhagen Business School, she co-authored the book 'Eksamen og eksamensformer: Betydning og bedømmelse' (2008).
Take an analytical and emotionless approach to your exam
“Try to push your emotions aside and take an analytical approach to what you need to know for your exam. What are the requirements for this specific exam? What exactly is it you need to know? My suggestion is to try and take a more rational and emotionless approach when assessing your skills. Find out what requirements you consider difficult and which ones you are capable of meeting. Ask yourself: Can I structure my work? Do I have the necessary analytical skills? Do I have an understanding of the subject matter? Do I know what the exam is about?
Prepare mentally – You can do it!
“The main thing is for you to prepare by reading up on the material and prepare mentally. In your mental preparations, you build a feeling that 'you can do this'. You enter a preparatory mode and that helps you to become better and better. And it will be really exciting to take the exam and get the chance to perform. Try and build up your self-confidence; to create the approach that 'I actually believe in myself. I can do this!' And: things may well have gone wrong once in the past, but it is exactly because I'm taking this approach that I will do well at this exam.”
Get a good friend to ask you questions about your exam anxiety
“Get a good friend among your fellow students to help you by asking you questions on what exam anxieties are actually about. It can be extremely helpful if a fellow student is there for you to listen and help you to analyse and reflect on your upcoming exam, but without giving too much advice. It is important that you find your own reasons and motives, and your own approach to doing well at exams. Think about what it is you're afraid of, and how things have gone wrong in the past. What actually happened – emotionally and academically? This is one way of dealing with exam anxiety. It is a way of getting to the core, of processing it and finding out what you need to do to tackle it the next time you sit an exam.”
Don't let your nervousness become an issue at your exam
“You don't need to tell the internal and the external examiners how you're feeling. They know very well how people feel when sitting an exam. In fact, just tell yourself that this is a natural state to be in. See if you can avoid turning it into an issue – if you don't, it will take up even more of your concentration.”
Be grateful for adrenaline
“When you become nervous, adrenaline rushes to your brain, and when that happens your brain performs a whole lot better. That's why adrenaline is something to be grateful for. Adrenaline is a hormone that is released in the human body when people need a special performance. From the dawn of time, it has been man's fight-or-flight response. In an exam situation, we need to fight and use our entire brain capacity.”