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Test Anxiety Questionnaire

Nist and Diehle (1990) developed a short questionnaire for determining if a student experiences a mild to severe case of test anxiety. To complete the evaluation, read through each statement and reflect upon past testing experiences. You may wish to consider all testing experiences or focus on a particular subject (history, science, math, etc) one at a time.

Indicate how often each statement describes you by choosing a number from one to five as outlined below. 

Never

1

Rarely

2

Sometimes

3

Often

4

Always

5

  1. I have visible signs of nervousness such as sweaty palms shaky hands and so on right before a test.

  2. I have “butterflies” in my stomach before a test. 

  3. I feel nauseated before a test.

  4. I read through the test and feel that I do not know any of the answers. 

  5. I panic before and during a test.

  6. My mind goes blank during a test. 

  7. I remember the information that I had blanked out once I get out of the testing situation.

  8. I have trouble sleeping the night before a test.

  9. I make mistakes on easy questions or put answers in the wrong places.

  10. I have trouble choosing answers.

Add up your score on all statements.  Scores will range from 10 to 50.  
 

  • A low score (10-19) indicates that you do not suffer from test anxiety. In fact, if your score was extremely low (close to 10 ), a little more anxiety may be healthy to keep you focused. 

  • Scores between 20-35 indicate that, although you exhibit some of the characteristics of test anxiety, the level of stress and tension is probably healthy. 

  • Scores over 35 suggests that you are experiencing an unhealthy level of anxiety you should evaluate the reason(s) for the stress and identify strategies for compensating. 

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