Category: Dream Symbols

Dreams about exams – what do they mean? (dream interpretation exam, test, trial)

Dream interpretation exam, test, trial. Dreaming that you are going to take an exam or actually taking an exam (and maybe even failing?) is a very common theme in dream interpretation. Actually, this theme is one of the ten most remembered in dreams. But what does it mean?

Exams in dreams as a symbol of a real trial in life. Yes, it really is quite simple. Often the dream is about an upcoming – or a finished – test or exam in life. This can be a real school exam or another type of trial or test (job, relationship etc.). It has been proven that people who work in performance-related jobs (for example giving talks and lectures, teaching or management roles) often dream about being at exams – or quite simply dream about the situation in which they feel they are at an exam (their job situation which they see as a trial or test, that is).

Dreams about exams (or tests) might symbolize an upcoming decision that needs to be made about you rather than by you. It can also symbolize a new phase in your life (maybe becoming a parent), and the question is then if you’ll pass or fail.

Dreaming about exams as a symbol of low self-esteem/self-confidence. Naturally, the dream might also mean that the dreamer (you?) is living with a sense of low self-esteem; that you don’t think you are living up to the trials in your life, but it might also mean that you perhaps have an unacknowledged performance anxiety or anxiety towards authority.

If the low self-esteem or the performance anxiety is dealt with, well, then you might dream that you are passing your exam, and you may realize that the exam you are taking in your dream – and that you are exposing yourself to in real life – may not even be necessary!

Also read: Why I no longer interpret dreams for free

NOTE: Dream interpretation is not always an easy skill, and when you dream about taking exams, it is almost certainly about something different for you than it is for someone else dreaming about exams. It is crucial that you feel the interpretation fits you, and it might be the case that the above interpretations do not suit you and your situation.

Have you had a difficult dream about taking an exam that you can’t really understand or that you’d just like to share? Feel free to comment below.