Gen Z students consistently struggle with feelings of anxiety tied to tests and exams, according to a new survey examining attitudes about test-taking and mental health. In fact, 86 percent of respondents indicated they have experienced exam anxiety, with 76 percent saying they have experienced it in the past six months.
To address the relatable stress students feel around test-taking, learning platform Quizlet has coined the term ‘examiety’ to describe the physical and emotional reactions that interfere with a student’s ability to perform well on exams.
Quizlet commissioned a survey of more than 1,000 U.S. Gen Z students to gain further insight on the impact of anxiety, studying, and learning in a post-pandemic world. Key takeaways include:
• Examiety negatively affects other aspects of the school experience: 68% of students admit that the apprehension and anxiousness that comes with test taking negatively affects the social aspect of their school lives. Gen Z students feel that test anxiety leads to poor exam performance (29%), lower self-confidence (28%), and a lower tendency to ask teachers for help (12%).
• Students feel exam stress negatively impacts the future: Nearly half of respondents (42%) consistently worry that test anxiety will negatively impact their academic future.
• Boosting accessibility to mental health resources during exams is vital to academic success: Only 24% of respondents said they seek help from school counselors when they are feeling stress related to tests and studying. What’s more, 43% of Gen Z students never reach out to their community, classmates, or family to talk about school related stress and mental health.
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