How to do well in exams – exam advice

How to do well in exams is the final article in the series 'How to prepare well for exams'. It is about how to make sure that you perform your best in the exam room.

Everyone is different, and that's true of how well people cope with sitting exams. Subjects differ too: type of questions, amount of choice, length of paper. So there's no one approach that fits all. However, the ideas below will help you  give your very best despite the pressure. Think about and practice the suggestions on how to do well in exams before you face the real thing!

Have a plan, and practice it again and again

The advice later on emphasises the need to do things in an organised way. To do that you need a plan.

But, it's easy to forget all your good resolutions once you're in the stress-zone. So use any opportunity you can to put your plan into practice to find out whether it works well for you and to make it second nature.

And, you should do as much practice as you can writing answers under timed conditions. In the longer term, practicing reduces stress, and will help ensure that you don't go blank with panic in the exam room.

Be ready on the day

Know where you've got to be, and make sure you get there with 10 minutes to spare (too early gives time for panic, too late and you're panicking already). Assemble everything you need for the exam well in advance so you don't have to turn your room upside down at the last minute, or find yourself without some key item. Don't forget spare batteries for calculators etc, and make sure you abide by your schools' rules on what you can and can't take into the exam with you.

In the first five minutes

To do well in exams, it helps to have a well-rehearsed routine for the first few moments in the exam room to reduce the first wave of anxiety. This might be as simple as the way you arrange your exam equipment on your desk. When you open the paper, breathe deeply and start to read through it. Look all the way through it before you start writing, even if the paper is a long one and all the questions are compulsory. That way you will get your bearings on what lies ahead, and it will be easier to resist the panic which might hit if you dive straight in to a difficult first question.

Once you have checked out the paper, decide on the first question to tackle. This is definitely time well-spent!

The order in which you tackle the questions

Your choice of first question is really important. If you come unstuck on it, you will find it harder to approach the next question with confidence. Even though you have to attempt all questions on the paper, you may be better off starting somewhere other than question one if the first question is a horror.

The ideal first question is one that asks about an area you know and which looks as though it will be straightforward to deal with. Until your brain has warmed up it is better to avoid answers which need careful thinking.

Keeping track of time

To do well in exams, you need to be aware of how time is passing so that you don't leave yourself with insufficient time for the final question(s). You can't get marks for answers you don't write ! The first 50% of the marks for a question are generally much easier to get than the second 50%, so to go well over time on a question just to get the last few marks is dangerous and is only justified if you know that you will not be able to write much at all for the final question.

Another guiding principle is 'Don't spend too long on difficult questions'. It is better to move on and come back to the tough ones at the end if time permits. There is nothing as tragic as running out of time, and then realising that the questions you didn't get round to were really easy. No answer equals no marks.

What to do if time is running out

If time is running out and you still have a lot to write, switch over to note form. You won't get full credit, but you will get a lot more marks than if you continue in long form and have to stop writing with a third of the answer still to write.

What to do if you have some time left over

Use it to look over your answers and to check that you have answered all the questions you are expected to. It is easy to forget that you skipped a question early on. Now is the time to return to it. Now is the time to guess at answers to questions you are unsure of. You can be sure of getting zero if you don't write anything, so make it your policy to try everything: you will not be penalised for guessing wrongly, and you stand a reasonable chance of picking up some valuable marks.

What not to do after the exam

Post-mortems straight after the paper are generally a bad idea. For one thing they usually turn out to be inaccurate. For another it is pretty easy to depress yourself and affect your morale for the next paper.

The only time they are worthwhile is if you badly messed up your tactical plan. In this case it is worth sitting down and sorting out a way to avoid doing the same with the next exam. Otherwise, wait until you have the result.

Good luck from all of us at cife!