Introduction:

Anxiety towards tests can impact academic performance, especially among nursing students with high levels of stress.

Objective:

To confirm the relationship between the level of anxiety, the academic performance, and some social and demographic variables among nursing students in the Universidad Católica del Maule.

Methodology:

This is a quantitative, descriptive, and transversal study. The sample was constituted by 94 students. Data were collected through 3 instruments: (a) a social and demographic data questionnaire (age, gender, school of precedence, place of origin, and occupation); (b) a Questionnaire of Anxiety Towards Exams (QAEX); c) the Objective School Clinical Exam (OSCE). Student´s t and ANOVA were calculated.

Results:

A significant relationship was observed between academic performance and the school semester, with students in their last semesters (senior) demonstrating better performances (p= 0.015). Students working and studying showed better results in the OSCE in comparison to those only studying (p= 0.027). Female students showed significant differences in terms of their levels of anxiety (p= 0.038).

Conclusion:

Anxiety was found to be in the low and middle levels. From the findings, it is suggested to avoid high levels of anxiety among students and to adjust, when necessary, the curriculum in order to support students who work and study at the same time.