The Element Encyclopedia
by Theresa Cheung
Fear of failure can often originate in childhood and stem from fears of abandonment, so dreaming you are a child sitting for an examination or revising for a test and worrying that you won’t pass may express a fear of failure. Dreams of being late, unprepared or failing an examination show that you feel unprepared for the challenge life is currently throwing at you.
Examinations are stressful and they can highlight your shortcomings. Your dream is urging you to stop fearing failure, to emphasize what is right and not what is wrong, and to give yourself permission to succeed.
The Complete Guide to Interpreting Your Dreams
by Stearn Robinson - Tom Corbett
The classic daddy of obstacle dreams with a classic simplicity of meaning.
If you failed the examination, the dream is telling you that your ambitions are beyond your ability and you would benefit from a change of goal.
However, if you passed the exam easily or it presented no major problem to you, it predicts comfortable achievement of all your hopes.
Dream Symbols in The Dream Encyclopedia
by James R. Lewis and Evelyn Dorothy Oliver
Dreaming about taking a test could indicate that the dreamer has a fear of failure. Alternatively, such a dream could indicate that a specific issue of great importance to the dreamer reminds them of being in school. “Passing the test” can also be a metaphor for successfully concluding any number of different activities.
