ESL Blogs

I have been an IESOL and IELTS examiner for over 2 years and invigilating up to 10 exams every week and often see terrible cases of exam nerves.  While some people do thrive on  a little pressure a small minority can not control the anxiety they feel on the day.  It is very important that you are ready to take the exam, very often I have candidates who are not at a level to take the exam.

I have seen candidates visibly shaking with nerves as they sit in front of me.  My reaction to this is to have an informal chat with them asking about themselves and inviting them to ask me any questions they might have about the exam in order to try to clam their nerves.  There have been a few humorous incidents too such as one young lady who was in the late stages of pregnancy who half way through the exam began jumping and twitching due to the baby kicking. I kept the recording going and asked the candidate if the baby was kicking, for the benefit of the tape.  I paused the exam but not the recording asking her if she wished to continue or not and gave her a drink of water.  After the kicking stopped I carried on with the exam but now it was me who was shaking and my voice stammering slightly.  I am happy to say she passed.

I have also had candidates who I could not stop talking due to nerves in the question and answer tasks. the problem with this type of candidate is they are often so nervous they do not listen accurately to the questions and often go way off topic.

After the exams I sometimes get chance to chat to them and have often found they have not followed some of the advice we send out to candidates before the exam.  So here I will go over a few of them.

1. Makes sure you have the right day and time. (yes we do have them arriving on the wrong day)
2. Have a good breakfast, include some slow energy release foods like cereals.
3. Avoid too much caffeine and nicotine. (don't take medications like pro-plus)
4. Avoid fizzy drinks but you can bring water.
5. Have a good night sleep before the exam
6. Try to go for a brisk walk just before you sit the exam. (to reduce adrenaline levels)

You can also look for some relaxation exercises such as self hypnosis to try on the day, these can also be used during the exam.

There are many web sites where you can take practice exams or try searching for past exam papers in the exam type so that you can make sure you are ready to take the exam.