Tips For Exams - Before The Exam

While every student's exam experience and preparation should be different, we're here to give you some general tips for what to do before each of your final exams.

Get a good night's sleep.
Staying up until 3 am figuring out how to do question 17 of a 2011 mock exam from a school you've never heard of is not going to help you in your 9 am final exam.
Know when and where you've got to go for your exam.
The stress of "is this the right venue and time" may still plague you – but it will be less of an issue if you're confident about where you have to go. Scouting far-off venues a few weeks before the exam can't hurt either and it is a great way to get in some driving practice if you're on your L-plates!
Ensure you have required forms of identification to sit the exam.
In many places you need your personalised exam timetable or some other form of identification form to get into your exam. These often include details you'll need to fill out the front page of the exam (in case you haven't memorised your student number etc.).
Make sure you have the right stationery.
Prepare a pencil case with all the things you'll need for your exam. Make sure they are in a permitted pencil case (most likely a clear click-zip bag). But don't stress out about having absolutely everything perfect – if something does go wrong you don't want to panic. [True story from GuruEdwardH: in my final Physics exam, I forgot my ruler. One of the questions required me to draw a graph. No reason to panic though, as I improvised and used the part-2 exam booklet].
Get to the venue early.
Rushing to get to an exam venue will leave you stressed as you begin the exam, which won't help your performance. Plus, arriving early gives you plenty of time to "get in the zone" and psych yourself out to do your best.
Chatting with friends.
Many people will warn you against chatting with your friends as you wait to start an exam as conversations often serve to simply stress you out even more. But chatting with friends is not (always) a bad thing! It can often put you in a relaxed mood and take your mind off the fact that you have an exam in 15 minutes that will decide if you live or die (it will not, but it can feel that way!).
Looking through notes.
No, you can't cram the whole course in the 2 hours before your exam. If you don't know your stuff then reading through will stress you out which won't be worth the extra information absorbed. However, looking through your notes can be confirmation that you do know your stuff, which is a good confidence booster going into the exam.
Establish a routine.
Having a pre-exam routine can help calm you down. This could be having your favourite breakfast to start the day or listing to your ‘Relax' playlist on your iPod. If you do this several times before exams you can inject some relaxing "just a regular day" feeling into you before your exam – reducing stress.
In the exam room.
Don't stress out! Do something to take your mind off the imminent exam and calm you down. Lay your pens out neatly on your desk, or practice breathing exercises. Make sure to listen to all instructions from the supervisor.