Do You Ever Feel Anxious Before an Exam?
Have you ever felt nervous and thought, “What if I can’t do it?” before an important test?
Anxiety can be a tough emotion to deal with. But in a way, it shows that you’re taking things seriously—that you care.
The Simple Yet Powerful Solution
Still, we’d all prefer to be free from anxiety if we could.
As a cram school instructor, here’s the most effective advice I give my students:
“Study.”
It might sound too simple, but that’s exactly why it works.
Most of the time, anxiety creeps in when we’re not studying. When we are studying, our minds are focused on memorizing, solving problems, or thinking deeply.
You can’t really feel anxious while you’re actively trying to remember something.
You won’t feel anxious while you’re solving a math problem either.
If you’re feeling anxious, it might be a sign that you’re not fully engaged in your studies at that moment.
So here’s my straightforward suggestion:
Study so much that you don’t even have time to feel anxious.
Personally, I believe it’s best to push yourself to the point where you can confidently say, “If I fail even after doing this much, then that’s just my limit.”
Even if the test doesn’t go well, life goes on. It’s just an exam, after all.
When you’ve done your best with that mindset, you’ll find that you somehow have the strength to move forward—even after setbacks.
Two Types of Anxiety
When we take a closer look, students with pre-exam anxiety tend to fall into two types:
Type 1:
“I’ve studied seriously. I think I’ve done everything I can. But I’m still nervous.”
Type 2:
“To be honest… I haven’t really done everything I should have.”
If you’re in Type 1, the solution is to keep doing what you’ve been doing—study.
Going through the exam itself will give you experience, confidence, and growth.
If you’re feeling anxious because you’re naturally a responsible person, then it’s okay to keep studying as usual while reminding yourself: “It’s just a test.”
If you’re in Type 2, it’s a bit more serious.
In this case, the anxiety comes from your past actions—or rather, your inaction. And unfortunately, we can’t go back in time to change the past.
The more you avoid what you should be doing, the stronger your anxiety tends to grow.
For example, if a student is about to take university entrance exams at age 18, but barely studied when they were 16 or 17, the time they didn’t spend studying becomes a heavy burden. That past can’t be erased, and it’s likely impossible to get rid of all anxiety at this point.
This can lead to a cycle where the student is overwhelmed with anxiety, unable to focus, turns to social media to escape, and ultimately gets disappointing results.
That’s why the key is this:
Do what you should do now—while you still can.
The Danger of False Optimism
There’s also a third group: students who say, “It’ll be fine! Things will work out somehow!” without taking any real action.
This is the most dangerous situation of all.
Worse still, they often aren’t even aware of how serious their situation is—or they’re avoiding reality.
This is where a concept called “metacognition” becomes useful.
Metacognition is the ability to view yourself objectively.
People with high metacognitive skills can observe themselves from a distance. They might still feel nervous before a test, but they don’t let it affect their performance too much. They know how to prepare and stay calm under pressure.
People with low metacognitive skills, on the other hand, can’t view themselves objectively.
They say things like, “I’ll be fine!” and believe it, even if they have no real basis for that confidence.
They don’t take the actions they need to take—or worse, they study just a little and convince themselves, “I’ve done enough!” even when it’s far from enough.
Then when they fail, they genuinely wonder, “Why did I fail?”
Since they don’t reflect on their mistakes, they learn nothing from failure—and the same pattern repeats.
If You’re Feeling Anxious, You’re Already on the Right Path
If you’re reading this and feeling anxious about an upcoming exam, I actually think that’s a good sign.
At the very least, you cared enough to search something like “exam anxiety” and found this article.
So now, do what needs to be done.
Most likely, that means study.
Yes, anxiety may come and go. But I hope you’ll use that emotion as fuel to focus and push forward.
People who face challenges with a positive attitude tend to lead fulfilling lives.
I truly hope you can overcome your exam and keep moving confidently into your future.
Good luck—you’ve got this.