Understanding and contextualising maths anxiety

Maths anxiety is more than exam stress. A look at how it develops, how it shows itself, and why it says nothing about a child’s intelligence.

Introduction

Many children and teenagers do not say: ‘I am afraid of maths.’ They are more likely to say: ‘I’m just bad at maths.’ Or: ‘I can’t do this anyway.’ Sometimes they say nothing at all, become quiet, avoid the issue, forget their materials, or only begin revising at the very last moment.

In my work as a tutor, I have repeatedly found that behind such statements and patterns of behaviour there is not laziness, but tension. Sometimes shame as well. And often a self-image that has hardened over years: Maths is not my area. Other people understand it. I do not.

That is precisely why it matters to me not to dismiss maths anxiety too quickly as ordinary exam nerves. It is more than a bit of stage fright before a test. It can block thinking, prevent learning, and obscure a child’s sense of their own potential.

Maths anxiety is more than exam stress

Nearly everyone knows exam stress. A certain degree of tension before a performance situation is normal and can even be helpful. Maths anxiety runs deeper. It shows itself not only in the exam itself, but often much earlier: when opening the exercise book, when looking at a task, when thinking about the next test, or even when hearing the words: ‘Today we are doing maths.’

Some children become restless, others withdraw. Some react irritably, others become sad or blank. Others again appear indifferent on the outside, even though inwardly the alarm has long since gone off.

That is why, in MONTES, I pay attention not only to whether a task is solved correctly. I also pay attention to what happens in the child the moment maths appears: Do they tighten up? Do they become hectic? Do they start guessing? Do they give up immediately? Or do they begin apologising before they have even started?

Such observations matter because they show that the problem does not always lie in missing knowledge. Very often it lies in the state in which that knowledge would have to be accessed.

When anxiety takes over thinking

Maths requires concentration, intermediate steps, an overview, and trust in one’s own line of thought. Anxiety strikes precisely there. It ties up attention. It fills the mind with distracting thoughts: What if I cannot do it again? What does the teacher think? What will my parents say? Why am I so slow?

That leaves less mental space for the actual task. A child may in principle have understood something and still be unable to retrieve it in a tense situation. For many affected children, this is especially shame-inducing, because they get the impression: ‘But I learnt it — and now it has all vanished.’

My experience shows that this moment has to be taken very seriously. When a pupil is blocked in maths, it rarely helps to explain even faster or to apply even more pressure. What is often needed first is relief: slowing down, making the task smaller, making the line of thought visible, and showing the child that they are not helpless.

The sentence ‘I’m not a maths person’

One of the strongest enemies of learning is not the difficult task itself, but the sentence: ‘I’m not a maths person.’ It sounds harmless, but it is powerful. It turns a learning experience into an identity.

If a child says: ‘I haven’t understood this fraction yet,’ development remains possible. If they say: ‘I can’t do fractions,’ things become narrower. And if that turns into: ‘I can’t do maths,’ then the statement no longer concerns a task, but the whole person.

That is why, in MONTES, I work consciously with self-image as well. Not through empty encouragement, but through concrete experience. A child has to experience: I can understand something that was previously incomprehensible. I can examine a mistake without being laughed at. I can think more slowly and still think correctly.

Experiences like these change more than the next mark. They change the relationship to the subject.

Anxiety often hides behind avoidance

Maths anxiety does not always show itself openly. Many children do not say that they are afraid. They avoid. They start too late. They lose worksheets. They change the subject. They do only the bare minimum or say: ‘There’s no point anyway.’

From the outside, this can look like a lack of motivation. Inwardly, however, it is often an attempt at self-protection. Whoever avoids a situation does not have to feel the anxiety in the short term. In the long term, however, the problem grows: less practice, more gaps, worse experiences, even more anxiety.

This cycle is very familiar to me from tuition. Yet it can be interrupted. Not through reproaches, but through a learning environment in which the child can re-enter without first having to put their entire self-worth at stake.

Even high-achieving pupils can have maths anxiety

An important point is often overlooked: maths anxiety affects not only children with poor marks. High-achieving pupils, too, can experience severe anxiety around maths. They in particular are sometimes under special pressure, because they are used to being ‘good’.

When a topic does not go well immediately, they experience it not as a normal difficulty, but as a threat: What if I am not as intelligent as I thought? What if everyone notices that I cannot really do it?

I have repeatedly observed that these children in particular benefit when they learn to understand mistakes not as a collapse, but as part of thinking. Maths then no longer becomes a test of the self, but a space in which one is allowed to explore.

Why this distinction matters to me

For me, the distinction between a conceptual gap and an anxiety reaction is central. Both can look the same: the child does not solve the task. But the help required is different.

If a concept is missing, what is needed is a good explanation, practice, and structured development. If the child is inwardly blocked, what is additionally needed is safety, relationship, an adjustment of pace, and a different culture around mistakes. Very often, both come together.

That is why I do not understand MONTES as mere ‘help with exercises’. Of course tasks are solved, topics are explained, and exams are prepared for. But behind this stands a psychological perspective: What does this child need in order to be able to think again at all? Where is the point at which pressure prevents learning? And where does courage return through one small successful experience?

Maths anxiety is not a sign of low intelligence

This is especially important to me: maths anxiety says nothing about a child’s worth or intelligence. First and foremost, it simply says that maths has become associated with tension, pressure, or unfavourable experiences.

Once this connection is understood, it can change. Children do not have to remain forever in the role they once adopted. They can have new experiences. They can realise that thinking may take time. They can learn that mistakes are not humiliation. And they can discover that maths is not made up only of pressure, but also of order, curiosity, and small moments of insight.

For me, that is where the real work begins.

Preview of Part 2

The second part will explore how maths anxiety can be overcome: through a secure learning relationship, less time pressure, a healthy culture around mistakes, clear explanations, and the systematic development of self-efficacy.

Because maths anxiety rarely disappears through appeals. It changes through experiences that are stronger than the old convictions.

MONTES Maths Tuition

In MONTES, I support children and young people in a way that brings subject understanding and emotional security together. The goal is not only the next better mark, but a steadier relationship with maths: calmer, more confident, and with greater trust in one’s own thinking.

References

Lorenzo Medici is a maths tutor, career and meaning coach in Wetzikon. He supports pupils on their way to the Gymi entrance examination, through the Matura, and through international curricula. His methodology combines psychological differentiation with subject precision. It is articulated in two complementary theoretical texts: VIA MEDICI describes how fit, fulfilment, and meaning interact; The Integrity Buffer shows how the resulting inner latitude cushions strain.