Students feel too much is expected of them in year 12. Photo: Lyn Osborn
Female year 12 students put the most pressure on themselves in the lead-up to exams and gifted girls who strive for top marks suffer the highest levels of stress and anxiety, new research into how Sydney teenagers cope with the HSC shows.
With the HSC starting on Monday, academics have warned that the high-stakes tests are “by far the most stressful experience” teenagers face.
Academics from the University of NSW surveyed 722 students from seven Sydney schools, which included selective, comprehensive and independent high schools, and found that 42 per cent of students suffered from high-level anxiety.
The research found that 6 per cent of students reported extremely severe levels of anxiety while 37 per cent registered above-average levels of stress.
More than half the students surveyed felt too much was expected of them in year 12.
The main causes of pressure were identified as workload (50 per cent), expectations to perform (26 per cent) and the importance of exams (22 per cent).
Source: HSC 2015: Gifted girls suffer the most stress, study finds
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