Tips For Exams - During The Exam

Here are some tips to bear in mind in the exam room:

Write neatly.
This one should speak for itself. If the marker isn't fluent in scribble, they can't give you any marks!
Make sure to give/use the correct units and round correctly.
This is an easy way to loose marks. Converting units correctly and using the correct units is easy to do – so don't make a silly error and forget to do it. And remember to look out for rounding – if the question says to answer to 4 decimal places, don't give it to 3!
Know your notes and any resources you're given.
If you're allowed to take in notes for your exam, know what's on them and where to find it! If your examination board provides you with a formula and/or data sheet, know how to use it. For many students, the first time they see a formula and data sheet is in the actual exam. You shouldn't use this sheet to work out what formula to use for a question; you should use it to remind yourself if it's a ω² or a ω³ in that formula you need to use. Similarly, you should know roughly where to find what you're after on the sheet.
Know how to use your calculator.
What's the point of having a car you can't drive? You need to know how to use your calculator effectively to answer questions. This is particularly the case with states that allow the use of graphics calculators. Think of enabling shift keys to speed up your calculations.
Try to work out what you're being asked to show.
Looking at a question and knowing what it is asking you to demonstrate can help you to answer it. The allocated marks are often a useful guide to assisting you in working out what it is the markers want.
Draw a diagram (where possible).
This will help you out in thinking about the question and may mean you get at least one mark for showing some working.
Know the pace you need to maintain to complete the exam.
You should know going into the exam how long it is, how many marks it's worth and the format it's in (is it non-calculator, calculator split – how long is each section?). This means you know if you're working to "a mark a minute" or "a question every 10 minutes" etc. This will help with time management in the exam.
Know the time.
Make sure you keep track of the time in the exam. Wear a watch (get a cheap one just for your final exams if you don't normally have one) in case you are at the back of the room and can't see or a pillar obscures your view. Knowing how long you've been going and how long you have to go can be good for morale and a good indicator if you've spent too long on a question and should move on.
Underline and highlight important parts of the question.
In a maths exam these may be key words that tell you information you'll need in your working or numbers that you'll need to use. This means that when you need to use that number given at the start in part c) you don't have to read the whole question again to find it.
Don't panic.
High School exams are important – but they are not life and death issues.
Keep water consumption to a minimum.
Do bring a permitted water bottle into the exam with you – one never knows when you'll have a minor headache and need some H2O. But if you have a tendency to drink the contents of your water bottle during the exam, bring a smaller water bottle. What goes in must come out, and you don't want the coming out to mean you don't quite finish the exam!
Don't leave early.
It's your last exam, you've finished, there's half an hour to go, the weather is great, you know your mates are at the beach already. What do you do? Push through, check your work, pick up on those silly errors and get an extra 4% of course! If you walk out early, chances are you'll remember the answer to question 3(b) and regret it.