Test anxiety and attitudes among year 6 state school pupils

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the level of test anxiety and attitudes towards examinations among former Year 6 pupils in Form 1 of Junior Lyceum and Area Secondary Schools, in relation to their scholastic achievement. The effects of gender, age and school differences were also investigated. The sample consisted of 1114 pupils: 512 boys and 602 girls. The Test Anxiety Inventory and the Examination Attitudes Questionnaire were administered in the second semester of the scholastic year 1997/8. The grades obtained by the pupils in the Junior Lyceum Entrance Examination of 1997 were also collected. Results indicate that the majority of the pupils suffer from test anxiety at various levels. Girls have slightly higher scores in test anxiety. The results also reveal that there is a relationship between attitudes towards examinations and test anxiety. Age and school differences are not related to measures of test anxiety. These findings also indicate that test anxiety is associated with the level of the grades obtained in certain subject areas. However, this relationship was not observed in all of the five subject areas examined. A number of recommendations to help pupils cope with test anxiety and to help them improve their scholastic achievement are proposed.