Interpreting dreams

What Does Dreaming About Exams Mean

 
Nidhi Nangia
By Nidhi Nangia. Updated: July 9, 2020
What Does Dreaming About Exams Mean

Exams are not something in which most of us take pleasure. They can cause a great deal of anxiety or are, at the very least, taxing and time consuming. However, they are also important and afford us opportunities to progress and invest in our future. When they appear in our dreams, however, they may take on different significance. You might dream about exams even thought school is but a distant memory. They may have more to do with facing evaluation or scrutiny by others, particularly by authority figures. The actual testing of exams might represent a figurative test we have in our lives. They also have a lot to do with our competence and performance. This oneHOWTO article will try to explore what does dreaming about exams mean to see how they relate to you.

You may also be interested in: What Does Dreaming About Mice Mean?

Contents

  1. Meanings of Different Exam Dream Situations
  2. You fail in an exam
  3. You pass an exam
  4. You run out of time
  5. You don’t have pen or pencil to write your exam
  6. You find your exam in a foreign language
  7. You are not able to find your seat in the examination hall
  8. You are late for your exam
  9. You can’t find the exam location
  10. You have been forced not to take the exam

Meanings of Different Exam Dream Situations

Dreaming about exams is a common dream subject. A dream about examination usually symbolizes anxiety about failing or passing, preparing for or being judged about a particular area of life. You may have this dream when you are worried about satisfying others or making others happy. If you are preparing for a test in the near future, dreaming about exams may your subconscious mind providing a sort of rehearsal to help prepare you.

When you dream about an exam, you may see yourself in different situations. These different situations may have different meanings and implications. Here are a few common examples:

You fail in an exam

When you see yourself failing in an exam, it may symbolize the feeling of inadequacy and insecurity in certain aspects of your real life. These can be about almost anything, whether it is in your work life, sexual life, relationships or even your self-confidence around others. We often feel like failures in life, especially when we make undue comparisons with others. This is particularly the case under the scrutinizing gaze of social media. Finding positive ways to approach life will help reduce such feelings of inadequacy. You may also take it as a warning for studying and preparing more for an upcoming exam.

You pass an exam

Seeing yourself passing an exam indicates you are completely prepared to deal with the upcoming test of your studies, but might also be applicable to other aspects of your life. This kind of dream may compensate your fear for failure. In your dream, if you are surprised about passing the exam, then you might be under-estimating yourself, or not taking enough credit for your achievements in real life. A dream where you pass an exam is usually either a subconscious reward for recent success or maybe some wishful thinking for your aspirational mind.

You run out of time

You may see yourself running out of time while taking an exam in your dream. You may have many questions to do, but only a couple of minutes left for submission. This kind of dream indicates that you may be aware of an upcoming problem, but you may not have enough time to resolve it. You may also be habitual in doing things last minute, and this habit may come back from time to time to haunt you in your real life. One solution is to prepare beforehand and complete your tasks in time.

Also, it could be a worry about ageing. We have many dreams and aspirations in our younger age, but growing older might find we haven't achieved what we expected. Even if we have, losing our youth can be a painful experience and our subconscious might find many interesting ways to address it.

You don’t have pen or pencil to write your exam

If you are going to write an exam and you find yourself not having pen or pencil in your dream, then it commonly signifies you are unprepared for circumstances in your real life. You may not be able to organize yourself before you complete the task at hand. If you dream this situation, you may need to delve into your organizational capability. It could have stemmed from an actual experience where you were unprepared for a situation. It could equally be a general anxiety about not being prepared for some of the upcoming issues we experience in our lives.

What Does Dreaming About Exams Mean - You don’t have pen or pencil to write your exam

You find your exam in a foreign language

In your dream, you sit to write your exam and find the paper in a language you don’t understand. This can be a scary situation, both in real life and in your dream. Many times, you may wake up with a fearful jolt. This situation in your dream can leave you thinking you are for sure going to fail in your exam miserably. In real life, this kind of dream may mean that you are not able to understand a concept in front of you. You may find yourself helpless, even when you thought you were prepared for the exam completely. This can indicate a feeling of inability to understand and being lost in your real life. There are many situations and concepts in our lives we struggle with, so take this as an opportunity to be more considerate.

You are not able to find your seat in the examination hall

In your dream, you may find yourself in a situation when you are not able to find your seat or all the seats in the exam hall may be occupied. This dream may indicate you are rushing and you are not prepared to stay focused before a particular event. You need some more assertiveness in your real life, as you tend to procrastinate too much. If there is no space for you in the examination hall, then it indicates that you should come prepared or you should arrive early to get your chance in real life. You may also be worried about losing some opportunities in your life, whether in romance, career or anything else.

You are late for your exam

If you are late for your exam in your dream, it may indicate that you always stay behind in your real life and you don’t have enough time management skills. This kind of dream may be directed towards your punctuality and you need to work on it.

You can’t find the exam location

If in your dream you feel like you have prepared, taken the right precautions and yet you are unable to find the examination hall, perhaps you are worried about something out of your control. Maybe something has happened to you which you didn't expect; an accident or a death in the family. This can undermine your own confidence, especially if things were otherwise going well.

You have been forced not to take the exam

Even though you are completely prepared for your exam, you have made all the arrangements, and you are even ready to leave for the examination hall in time, you may find yourself being held back by someone or something. This kind of dream may indicate that the choice you have made for yourself is not right for you. It could be that someone in your real life does not agree with your choice, and they may try to stop you from pursuing it. It could also equally be you are trying to undermine yourself.

If you want to read similar articles to What Does Dreaming About Exams Mean, we recommend you visit our Culture & Society category.

Write a comment

What did you think of this article?
1 of 2
What Does Dreaming About Exams Mean