Level of Test Anxiety for Final Exam among King Faisal University Students

Background: University life is a chapter of all the enrolled students’ life where they face stressful events that could potentially lead to different levels of anxiety. Anxiety is a common phenomenon that causes poor academic achievements for most college students in the world. Higher state of anxiety, feeling low self-esteem, taking longer time to accomplish tasks, and spending more time for studying, are faced by college students who also worry about tests resulting or low grades. Aim: This study aimed to determine the anxiety level among university students during final exams, and to determine the relationship between students' characteristics and the level of test anxiety among King Faisal University Students in Al Hasa, Eastern Region, Saudi Arabia. Method: A cross-sectional study research design was utilized to conduct the current study on a sample of (N = 362 students) randomly chosen from King Faisal University students from different colleges. Informed consent was taken stating that the participants have the right to leave the study at any time. Students were asked to complete a questionnaire developed by Nist and Diehl (1990) in assessing Test Anxiety. Test anxiety score was measured among students between the age range 18 to 26 years. There was high level of test anxiety among level 3 students (25.3%) with (Mean ± SD=31.1±6.8) and among level 4 students (21.2%) with (Mean ± SD 30.5±6.5). The frequency of students with high anxiety was significantly increased in health college (28%). This means that there was a significant increase in the anxiety score in health colleges compared with non-health colleges. The prevalence of high level of test anxiety among university students was (19.1%).High level of test anxiety is noticed in our university students. Also, the result confirmed that there is a relationship between test anxiety and students’ characteristics.  Conclusion: Anxiety is a natural response categorized by feelings of stress, anxious thoughts and bodily alterations like raised blood pressure. Moderate levels of anxiety are motivating and can improve students’ test performances. However, high level of anxiety could hinder and interfere with their academic performance. The current study focuses on the test anxiety level among undergraduate King Faisal University students. In this study, high level of test anxiety is noticed in the students. Also, the result confirmed that there is a relationship between test anxiety and students’ characteristics.