Test anxiety among Ilam UMS Students, 2012

In today’s era of academic competition test anxiety among students is increasing. Anxiety may result in difficulty in concentration and information processing and hampers students’ performance. The current study aimed to determine test anxiety among Ilam UMS’ students.Method and materials: A descriptive correlational design was used. The sample of the study consisted of one hundred and seventy undergraduate students which were included in the study by stratified random sampling. Data were collected by using Sarason’s Test Anxiety Scale (TAS). Data were collected three weeks prior to examination date and were analyzed using descriptive methods by SPSS software. Our findings showed that 34.1%, 51.8%, and 14.1% of students experienced mild, moderate, and severe test anxiety levels, respectively. Further, a significant relationship was found between test anxiety score with only residency status at 0.05 level. In other words, nursing, local, and married students showed more test anxiety. However, no relationship was seen between test anxiety with age and gender. since anxiety has negative effects on educational performance, implementing anxiety preventive programs including psychological consulting services, identifying & improving potential causes are suggested. Much more attention should be paid to high risk students, local, and especially married and nursing students.