Exam tips
Tuesday 11 March 2008
Exams can be stressful. Check out some top tips from n2k and also 2004 Teacher of the Year, Phil Beadle.
Revision
Plan, plan, plan
The key to revision is planning your time properly. That means making a revision timetable and sticking to it. Cramming is not fun and never works.
The most important thing is to take breaks, reward yourself with your favourite show or take a walk to get some fresh air.
A different way
Revision doesn’t mean just reading books.
The BBC Bitesize site which aims to make ‘revision easier to digest’ lets you listen and download mp3files, why not put it on your ipod?
You can also play games that are linked to specific subjects, try The Lost Army of Fu Shi for Maths or Destination Death for languages.
Surf the net
The internet has many useful study aids to help you out during exam time.
Website ‘Geography All the Way’ can shed new light on Geography with its Sims like characters and a new interactive approach to revision.
The Sky Learning website is also useful and links subjects like Science to programmes on the Sky channels, it even tells you when it’ll be on.
Make it fun
Having study groups can help make learning easier and more fun, well as long as you do study and not end up gossiping or playing computer games!
Talking about what’s bugging you about History or getting a second opinion on that difficult formula in Maths might help you remember stuff better. Make notes and read through them afterwards.
Common sense
Eat and sleep well, that means eating plenty of fruit and veg and getting your eight hours of kip a night. Avoid coffee as this will only make you more nervous.
Help
If things are really getting you down then speak to a parent or a teacher – don’t feel embarrassed, they’ve gone through it before too you know!
The exam
Prepare
Do you know what room the exam will be in? Have you packed your pencil case? Get these worries out of the way the day before – you don’t want to be looking for your ruler in the morning.
Leave plenty of time for the journey and don’t forget to have breakfast.
Make your mark
Look at which questions are worth the most marks and spend more time on those.
Many people make the mistake of spending more time on the first question and neglecting the others. You could look through the whole paper first, see which questions carry the fat marks and do these first.
Answer the question
A lot of people go wrong in exams because they somehow end up not answering the question that was asked of them. Underline the key words and check with yourself that you know what is being asked for.
Check your paper
Proof reading your work could make the difference between a C and a B. Simple as that.
Good luck!
