MANAGE TEST ANXIETY
WHILE YOU STUDY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Taking high-stakes tests is an undeniable part of our culture. We live in evaluative societies. In schools, colleges, universities and the workplace, we take tests to try and climb the ladders of success.

Dr Helen Barsham was a teacher and headteacher in schools in the UK for 27 years. After watching students crumble at the thought of taking important tests, she decided to help – and that’s where her research began. She was particularly concerned for students who did not achieve the grades they deserved because of test anxiety.

Studying with the University of Cambridge, she researched for a doctorate, and while doing that, she created an intervention that helped students feel more confident about taking tests. The strategies for increasing confidence in test taking are shared in this guide. Helen is on a mission to make test anxiety a thing of the past and her dreams are:

For students who are anxious and must take tests to read this guide and realize that they can increase their test-taking confidence.

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To ask the wider question: Are these tests and exams necessary? Is there a better way?

To encourage young people to like themselves and not compare themselves to anyone else.

For the powers that be to realize that the way we educate young people needs a rethink, as times have changed and are changing. High-stakes tests and exams may be holding back learning for life and perhaps, even, the future of the world

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MANAGE TEST ANXIETY
WHILE YOU STUDY

Overcome Exam Stress and
Learn Revision Skills

BY DR HELEN BARSHAM

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Published in 2026 by Magentis Publishing
(self publisher)

Helen Barsham has asserted her moral right to be identified as the author of this Work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronically, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owners and the publishers.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available
upon request from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-0667252-0-5

Originally published in 2025 by Trigger Publishing
(Dissolved October 2025)

All material in this book is set out in good faith for general guidance and no liability can be accepted for loss or expense incurred in following the information given. In particular this book is not intended to replace expert medical or psychiatric advice. It is intended for informational purposes only and for your own personal use and guidance. It is not intended to act as a substitute for professional medical advice. The author is not a medical practitioner nor a counsellor, and professional advice should be sought if desired before embarking on any health-related programme.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction		1
Chapter 1:	What is Test Anxiety?	7
Chapter 2:	Failure, Perfectionism and Fear Appeals	15
Chapter 3:	Solving the Problem: Making You Less Anxious About Exams	27
Chapter 4:	Giving Back Control: Self-efficacy in Taking Tests	43

Afterword		55
Acknowledgements		57
References		59

Appendix A:	Children’s Test Attitude Questionnaire (UK version)	67
Appendix B:	How Confident Are You?	71
Appendix C:	Children’s Test Anxiety Questionnaire (US version)	73
Appendix D:	What Do the Scores Mean?	77

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This little guide is dedicated to all the students out
there who feel like they’re taking exams just to get to
the next level of exams.

It’s for the students who hate taking exams
or just don’t see the point of them!

Mostly, this is for students who are anxious
about taking exams.

This is also for Hope, and for all the kids I have had the privilege to know, teach and guide over the years.

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INTRODUCTION

WELCOME!

If you’re reading this, you probably get anxious before exams. Just remember, you are not alone. In any given educational setting, about 10–20 per cent of the room get anxious about exams (Cizek & Borg, 2010). That’s a lot! In fact, a lot of “performance data”, i.e., exam results, are probably not a true representation of a student’s ability at all. Test anxiety is one major reason for that.

This little guide will help with this problem, so read on for some genuinely helpful advice and strategies to beat test anxiety. Personally, I’d prefer if learning was for problem solving, joy and for life, not just for tests. For that reason, I believe we need more educational reform, and I wish that pointless exams didn’t exist. However, for now, high-stakes testing is the system, and this guide aims to help you beat the system!

The words “exams” and “tests” in this guide are used interchangeably and apply to all evaluative exams and tests in the UK, the US and any country

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MANAGE TEST ANXIETY WHILE YOU STUDY

where you have to take these types of assessments. This guide is talking about high-stakes tests or exams that have official outcomes – for example, tests you need to get into university or to move up a grade level.

WHY I WANTED TO HELP

I studied test anxiety because I wanted to help improve students’ wellbeing around exams. As a teacher and headteacher (similar to a principal for readers in the US) and, also, importantly, as a mum, I saw first-hand the dread, fear and panic that many students and their families experienced around exams. I watched them crumble. It was important to find an answer to the problem.

Debunk the Myth

Let’s start with the idea that “a little bit of anxiety around tests is good for you”. I wonder how many of you have been told this before? It is true that for some students this may work, but it is simply not true for most students, and especially if you do suffer from anxiety / test anxiety. So, I personally think it’s a sentiment that should go in the bin!

The aim of this little guide is to increase your self- efficacy, your belief in your own capability (Bandura, 1997), in taking tests . This, in turn, will reduce your anxiety around them. The research that led to the

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INTRODUCTION

production of this little guide happened in real-life classrooms with real students (Barsham & Ellefson, 2020; Barsham, 2021). The results of my research showed that test anxiety decreased for all students, but especially the most anxious students, after the intervention. Still, the resulting tips are helpful for anyone who suffers with anxiety about taking tests, in any educational setting (or, come to think of it, any evaluative situation such as a driving test!). It doesn’t matter how young or old you are, or what “testing” situations you’re facing – this guide can help!

HOW THIS GUIDE WORKS

What I’ll do is explain exactly what test anxiety is. Then I’ll show you how we can intervene in this problem and share the intervention with you. I’ll tell you exactly how you can do this, plus make sure you’ve got all the resources you need. You will need to understand a bit more about how the brain works and specifically how memory works in relation to being tested, so that’s what we’ll do. It is as straightforward as that.

Ironically, I will also recommend more tests for coping with test anxiety – but I am recommending low-stakes tests – not high-stakes tests. Low-stakes tests are simply quizzes, flashcards and any other opportunities for recalling content and information.

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