Helping Your Child Cope with Tests & School Pressures
By Mark Rohald, co-founder of Cluey Learning
For many parents, standardised testing and the pursuit of academic excellence can result in increased stress for their child and the entire family. In Australia, our children are faced with a range of high-stakes tests, including NAPLAN, final Year 12 exams, and selective school assessments. The pressure on students to perform well in these tests can lead to anxiety, lack of confidence, and a negative approach to learning.
Gaining entry to top schools and universities is becoming increasingly competitive. As a result, many students are under pressure to perform well academically, with some being pushed to the limit and feeling overwhelmed. Don’t despair! As a parent, you can support your children and help them manage these pressures and perform academically.
Why do students suffer from test-related anxiety?
Exams like NAPLAN (for Years 3, 5, 7, and 9), Opportunity Class, Year 12 and achieving an ATAR (for university entry) are designed to assess skills and knowledge. However, they also often lead to unintended stresses and anxiety. Here’s why:
- Fear of failure: Many students worry that poor test results will impact their parents’ expectations and future opportunities.
- Comparison with friends: Students often compare their results with their friends, or teachers may publish all-of-class results, which can lead to embarrassment and a loss of confidence.
- Pressure from parents and teachers: While encouragement to achieve one’s potential is important, an excessive focus on results can sometimes make children feel that their worth is tied to their marks.
- Test format and expectations: Some students struggle with exam techniques, time management, or even just the idea of sitting through a high-stakes test.
How do school and academic pressures affect students?
Many parents are increasingly concerned about how their children’s academic results may impact their future educational opportunities, and today’s societal norms tend to exacerbate this. This can manifest in many ways:
- Increased anxiety and stress – High expectations can lead to burnout, affecting mental health and motivation.
- Avoiding making mistakes – Some students become overly focused on avoiding errors rather than developing a love of learning.
- Loss of confidence – When students cannot keep up with a subject or fail to meet academic expectations, they begin to question their capabilities.
- Reduced engagement in learning – External pressure often turns educational activities into tedious tasks instead of maintaining them as naturally curious pursuits.
What can you do to help your child manage anxiety with tests and cope with academic pressure?
As a parent, you can focus your efforts on helping your child develop resilience and maintain self-confidence, enabling them to reach their academic potential without feeling overwhelmed. Here are six tips on how to help you achieve this:
- Shift the focus from results to learning: Encourage your child to see exams as a learning experience rather than a statement of their intelligence or predictor of future success. Instead of asking, “What mark did you get?” try asking, “What did you learn from this test?” “What could you have done differently?” and “What was your area of greatest improvement?” Celebrating small progress helps them build a growth mindset.
- Regulate stress & teach coping strategies: Explain that it’s okay to feel nervous about exams, but they’re not the be-all and end-all. Help them develop coping mechanisms such as:
- Deep breathing or mindfulness/wellness exercises
- Breaking study sessions into short, focused intervals
- Regular physical activity to manage stress
- A balanced diet and enough sleep before exams
Here is a useful resource to guide you on some of these techniques.
- Develop sound study skills: Encourage consistent, manageable learning and homework sessions rather than cramming at the last minute. Help your child:
- Create a study calendar that includes regular breaks
- Promote the use of learning methods such as summaries, flashcards, and reviewing past exam papers
If they’re struggling in a particular subject, personalised one-to-one tutoring, as offered by Cluey Learning, can help fill learning gaps before they become more significant problems.
- Explain how tests are not everything: Remind your child that one test does not define their ability or future. In fact, schools take into account multiple test scores (formative assessment), classwork, and team projects in arriving at an overall mark in a subject, and there are many alternative paths to university entrance and career options that don’t rely entirely on ATAR scores.
- Manage your own stress and expectations: Children have an acute ability to recognise parental stress and expectations. While it’s natural to want the best for them, try to:
- Encourage effort rather than perfection
- Reinforce that intelligence isn’t fixed. Skills improve with time and practice
- Avoid comparing them to siblings or classmates
- Seek extra support when needed: If your child is experiencing severe anxiety or academic difficulties, consider professional support:
- Tutoring programs. Personalised tutoring can help your child build confidence in challenging subjects.
- School counsellors. If anxiety is affecting their well-being, speaking to a professional can help.
- Parent-teacher communication. Maintain regular contact with your child’s teachers to understand how your child is performing and where they may need extra support.
A healthy approach to success
Standardised tests are a core component of our school system, and the status quo will likely remain for some time. However, standardised tests are not intended to impact a child’s self-confidence or future potential negatively. By helping your children understand the purpose of these tests, manage their stress, build resilience, and develop sound study habits, you can help to prepare them with the skills they need for lifelong learning and success.
At Cluey Learning, we offer personalised one-to-one online tutoring to help students prepare for NAPLAN, Year 12 final examinations and other assessments, focusing on reducing student stress. Our expert tutors provide individualised support in Maths, English, Chemistry, Physics and Biology. Looking for ways to support your child? Learn how Cluey Learning can help with exam readiness and academic success.
About the author, Mark Rohald:
Mark is a former university lecturer with more than 30 years of experience in education. He has founded several private and publicly listed education companies and has served on the boards of more than 25 education organisations. Mark is also a Director and the Executive Deputy Chairman of Cluey Ltd.
