5 Exam Tips Every Student Should Know

Exams can be the ultimate worry of our school lives.

Students everywhere often find themselves studying until there are only minutes to spare before the exam starts.

So, after much thorough studying, you don't want to completely blank out when the clock starts ticking. Here are my tips to help you get through an exam.

Calm your heart down.

If it's just before or during the exam and you're heart rate is rising, calm it down by taking five slow breaths. If you are panicky and not thinking straight, you could have mental blocks and completely forget and waste all your notes. Keep your heart rate normal, think clearly and the answer might just pop up to you.

Keep checking the time.

It is so easy to become so involved with a question that you lose track of the time and realise it has nearly run out. Regularly check the clock and know how much time should be allocated to each question. If you are spending so much time on one question but just can't work it out, mark it with a dot, skip it and come back to it later. It will be better to finish the rest of the exam than to only do that question.

Draw diagrams to help you understand.

This will help you visualise complicated and wordy problems that sound confusing. Read slowly, word by word, and gradually draw something that will help you understand what the question is asking you and what you have to find out.

Think positively.

If you realise you are struggling to finish within the time limit or you aren't understanding the questions, don't be harsh on yourself. Rather than giving up, tell yourself that you CAN do it, and you WILL do it. Tell yourself how proud you will be if you get a good mark and push yourself to keep going. No matter what the result is, you will be fine if you know that deep down, you tried your hardest.

If worst comes to worst, just guess the rest.

If you have completely run out of time but still have a few questions left, just randomly guess the rest because it's better to have an answer than none! This works best with multiple choice exams. Still, in other circumstances, you can still quickly look over and roughly estimate your answers. This should only be used as the last resort if you definitely have no time at all.

All these tips will hopefully help you avoid any problems, but ultimately, the exam result depends on YOU. You can only do whatever you can do. Just try your best and you'll do great! And remember, "There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” ~ General Colin Powell. Good luck!

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