6th April 2017 1:00
By Blue Tutors
While a small level of stress on the day of the exam will release adrenaline which can boost your performance, for many excessive stress can be paralysing in the lead up to and during exams. So what can you do? When it comes to exams, the old adage is true: failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Below are some things to remember over the coming weeks as thousands of students prepare for GCSE and A level exams, but they apply to assessments in any form.
Make a revision schedule
Breaking up each course into sections, and then into subsections, is not only vital in terms of time management but will allow you to structure the information in your mind and draw links between areas of the syllabus you may not have already seen. When preparing your schedule think realistically about how long you should be spending on each topic, how well you know and understand it versus how much of the course it represents, and where your time can be best spent. Having this structure will prevent you from focussing on one area or subject for too long to the detriment of the others. It is easy to spend time on the easier more familiar parts of the course which will lull you into a false sense of security. Equally it is tempting to ignore the parts you do not recognise, but that is where the most progress can be made; the sad truth is that for some students, revision will also entail a fair bit of ‘vision’, where you are seeing some of the material, particularly detail, for the first time. But beware – your plan does not need to be set in stone and does not need to be readjusted every day; do not let planning your revision take over from actually revising!
Make notes
You will be looking through large amounts of information and it is tempting to rely on highlighting your extremely comprehensive and detailed text book to make a note of everything you think is important, but this can be dangerous. Short of highlighting everything, you will miss things out, and making concise, easy to read notes is a great way of making the second round of revision much more effective. Equally the act of writing things down yourself will aide memory and force you to make sure you have understood. One of the best ways to check your understanding and clarify your own thinking is to teach someone else, or explain it in your own way. When making notes, be as consist as possible. That means leaving out the obvious, that is what is obvious to you, and focus on finding the most memorable way to represent the information for you to be able to recall it when you need to. For some that will mean using lists, some tables, and others diagrams, or better yet a combination of different methods to give you the best chance. Come up with a short hand to save time and use simple but effective examples wherever possible.
Practice practice practice
Revision of the theory and concepts is extremely important, but alone it is not enough to secure a top grade. It is vitally important to put the ideas into practice and this should take the form of text book exercises for building confidence in the basics, and past or sample exam questions as exams draw nearer. Past exam papers are often available from schools but if not, many are now also available online. The exam board matters for two reasons: firstly, as different exam boards will have a slightly different syllabus and there is no use in learning information that is not required of you when you have limited time, but secondly, different boards use very different question and marking styles. To maximise the marks you get in an exam, you not only need to know the material but how they will assess it. You must be able to recognise quickly what the question is asking you for and know what format they want the answer in. This is what is often referred to as 'exam technique' and is often neglected. For this reason, particularly closer to the exam date, you should focus on the exam board you will be taking and always go through the marks scheme even for questions you think are correct during revision. After a while you will see the patterns in language and how they ask for certain information and even in certain question types which will make you more confident that you will be able recognise a question as well as tackle a new unknown one on the day.
Take care of yourself
It’s a marathon not a sprint. We are all guilty of the last minute cramming to try and make sure we have every bit of information possible, but the night before your exam is not the time to stay up reading. Hopefully at this stage you have already been through the material and have some concise notes to look over as a last reminder, but unless you have done no revision whatsoever, a good night’s sleep is better preparation that going through one last past paper at this stage. Your brain is part of your body, so remember to eat well, sleep enough and take enough breaks in the lead up to the exam season. This will help fight the stress and improve your mental and physical wellbeing, but will also improve your memory and cognitive function.