| Summary: | In today’s fast paced technological world learners are under a great deal of pressure to obtain their grade 12 certificates. These learners are also faced with a number of life events that add to the stress they experience during the preliminary and final grade 12 examinations. This stress or anxiety increases when they fail their preliminary grade 12 examinations. This study focuses on these learners and the stress and anxiety that they experience after failing their grade 12 preliminary examinations. Guidelines are suggested to support and prevent learners from failing their grade 12 preliminary examinations. The research design adopted for this study was qualitative, exploratory and descriptive in nature. Phenomenological interviews were used for data collection and field notes were made to support the interviews. The data were analysed and coded with verification from an independent coder. In phase one, three themes were identified, discussed and supported by a literature control. In phase two the findings were used to suggest guidelines for the grade 12 learners. The findings of this study showed that grade 12 learners, writing their examinations, experience stress and anxiety physically, psychologically and emotionally. They describe rather alarming symptoms of this stress and anxiety. The learners also appear to have ambivalent feelings towards their future orientation during this stressful time. The guidelines suggested are aimed at managing the stress and anxiety as well as learning to develop support through effective communication skills and relationship building. It is hoped that application of these guidelines will support learners and prevent failure during the preliminary examinations thereby alleviating much of the stress and anxiety that learners experience during their examinations. === Prof. C.P.H. Myburgh
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