Can we reduce anxiety of students sitting remote exams? Sharing best practice between SPS and LHCS

• Project leader(s): Gemma WarrinerFiona MoormanBecca Whitehead
• Theme: Supporting students
• Faculty: STEM
• Status: Current
• Dates: April 2022 to December 2023

Many SPS and LHCS students reported anxiety concerning the 20J exams on module forums, and also in conversation with SST Advisors.

Informal analysis of forum posts on module websites and anecdotal feedback from SST advisers indicated that some issues related to the content and format of the exams, newly designed to be open book. Other issues centred around sitting an exam in a remote setting and the timed-nature of the exams (for SPS). Also, the attainment in some exams was lower than usual and required adjustment at standardisation.

While acknowledging that there is considerable variation both within disciplines and between our different schools in types of questions and exam paper formats, this project seeks to identify some of the causes of anxiety and assess whether remote exam support measures put in place for 21J students by the two schools has had a beneficial effect. To clarify – we plan to explore issues surrounding the remote/ online setting rather than gathering information concerning the content and format of exam papers.

The overarching purpose of this work is to evaluate and improve the student experience of sitting remote exams.