High-stakes exams can be stressful—for some learners, deeply so. Test anxiety affects focus, confidence, and performance, and it’s more common than you might think. The good news? Cirrus offers several built-in features that can help reduce that anxiety, from the moment students open their exam to the moment they submit it.
Here’s a closer look at how small, thoughtful settings in Cirrus can make a big difference in creating a calmer, more supportive testing experience.
The Intro Page: start with clarity
First impressions matter. The Intro Page is the first thing students see when they open an exam in Cirrus. It’s your opportunity to welcome them, explain what to expect, and set a calm, supportive tone before the exam begins.
Include key details like how many questions they’ll see, how much time they have, whether they can skip around, and any technical notes. If helpful, you can also include a friendly message or words of encouragement.
Once you’ve enabled this welcome page, you can customise which exam details appear below your message. By default, all of the following are shown, but you can choose to hide any that might distract or overwhelm students:
- Number of questions
- Schedule start
- Attempt number
- Which attempt counts
- Duration
- Schedule deadline
- Maximum score
- Pass mark (percentage required to pass)
Bonus: Students can revisit this page at any point during the exam by clicking the ‘Introduction’ button at the bottom of the screen. It’s a simple way to reorient themselves if they feel overwhelmed mid-exam.
Practice exams: reduce the fear of the unknown
One of the most effective ways to ease test anxiety is to remove uncertainty—and that’s exactly what practice exams are designed to do.
In Cirrus, you can create a version of the exam that mirrors the real experience in every way. Same layout. Same navigation. Same tools. This gives students a chance to explore the platform in advance, so they know exactly what to expect on exam day.
You can keep the practice version identical to the real thing or simplify it slightly—just a handful of questions is often enough to build familiarity and confidence.
Some ways to use practice exams effectively:
- First-time platform users: Help students get comfortable with the interface—where to click, how to navigate, how much time they’ll have.
- New exam formats: If you’re introducing new question types (like drag-and-drop or audio playback), a practice exam helps eliminate surprises.
- Feedback and learning: Enable feedback in the practice version so students can see what they got right or wrong, and why. This turns the experience into a learning tool rather than a performance test.
Extra time
For students with accommodations, Cirrus makes it easy to assign extra time on a per-candidate basis. Whether it’s for anxiety, learning differences, or other needs, this option gives students the space to pace themselves—without needing a separate version of the exam.
How Cirrus handles extra time
There are three ways to give extra time in Cirrus:
- Fixed time via user profile: assign a set number of extra minutes (e.g. 15) to a user. This is added to every exam automatically.
- Percentage-based time via user profile: set a percentage (e.g. 25%) to extend the exam time based on its duration.
- Invigilator adds time during exam: invigilators can add extra time manually while the exam is running.
Free navigation
Feeling locked into a question order can create unnecessary stress. By enabling free navigation, you allow students to move through the exam in a way that works best for them—skipping tricky questions and returning later with fresh eyes. Pair this with the Overview feature, and students gain even greater control. They can view a clear list of all exam questions at any point, easily spot unanswered or flagged items, and jump directly to those questions. These settings give students more agency, reduce uncertainty, and prevent mental blocks from derailing the entire session.
Feedback on Items
For students who experience test anxiety, not knowing whether they’re on the right track can be unsettling—especially during preparation.
That’s where feedback on items in Cirrus comes in. In practice exams, you can enable automated feedback to give students instant insight into their performance:
- On alternatives – For multiple-choice and multiple-response questions, students get feedback tied to each answer option.
- On questions – A general feedback message appears for each question as a whole.
Why does this matter? Because it transforms a practice exam from a simulated test into a meaningful learning experience. Instead of just showing a score at the end, students can understand why something is correct (or not), helping them to reflect and build confidence as they go.
Reduce ambiguity
Ambiguity fuels anxiety. Cirrus lets you add instructions at multiple levels: on the intro page, within each section, and even for individual questions. Use these fields to explain what students need to do and how the exam is structured.
The clearer the instructions, the less cognitive load your students carry into the exam—and the more they can focus on demonstrating what they know.
Timed sections
Long exams can feel overwhelming. Timed sections allow you to break the assessment into smaller chunks, which can help students focus on one task at a time. It’s a good way to prevent fatigue and keep stress levels in check—especially for longer or more complex exams.
Review Sessions
Enabling a review screen at the end of the exam gives students a final moment to check their work, revisit flagged questions, and feel confident about their answers before submitting. For anxious students, that final glance can make a big difference in peace of mind.
Notepad
For many students, getting stuck on a question—or worrying about how they’re being graded—can quickly raise anxiety levels. The Notepad in Cirrus gives students a low-pressure space to think things through, jot down ideas, or explain their reasoning without the fear of being judged for a wrong answer alone.
This is especially valuable in subjects like math or science, where the process matters as much as the final result. If a student chooses the wrong answer but shows solid logic, assessors can still see their understanding and award marks for their process, not mark them wrong entirely.
How it works in Cirrus
When enabled, the Notepad appears as a button at the bottom of the screen. Clicking it opens a small window with a rich-text editor where students can type freely. Notes are saved automatically.
- Each notepad is specific to the question, so students can take notes throughout the exam.
- Notes are visible to assessors during marking, giving markers insight into how the student approached the question.
Helping students manage test anxiety doesn’t require major changes—just thoughtful exam design. Cirrus gives you the tools to make small adjustments that lead to a more confident, focused test-taking experience.
Need help setting up any of these features?
We’re happy to walk you through it—just reach out to your account manager or contact support.
