Within the next 3 weeks, I will have finished my first year of university (scary thought right there) where I am studying Business Management and thinking back to last year, I can remember just how daunting A Level examinations were which will no doubt be starting very, very soon (I did English Literature, Business and Psychology).
In today's post, I've decided to share with you some useful tips for coping with your final exams, many of which helped me.
Tip 1 | Know what you are expected to know // This one sounds simple doesn't it? Well you'd be amazed at how many people are unaware about what they are truly expected to know. It's very important to be aware of your syllabus. For instance, a question can state a theory they want you to specifically talk about or they may just suggest theories you could include in your answer but you aren't required to know them.
Tip 2 | Look at previous papers/exam question // I would highly recommend using past exam papers and questions to help you revise as they allow you to see how much you can remember and what your weakest areas are. Although you can access the answers online, I always find it beneficial to ask your teacher to have a look over them as sometimes what you might think sounds right may not actually be enough for the marks.
Tip 3 | Look at past examiners reports // Like past papers, I also found looking over examiners reports useful for knowing what other students have lost marks on as markers can sometimes often be extremely picky.
Tip 4 | Use memory improvement techniques // As an ex psychology student, the use of memory improvement techniques for revision was pretty much drummed into me. There are quite a few out there but the two I found most helpful were Spider Diagrams and Mnemonics: Spider Diagrams are great for jotting down key points from theories and memorising them, I also liked to colour code mine; and Mnemonics is when you use a code to help you remember something for instance, the colours of the rainbow can be remembered as Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain.
Tip 5 | Take a break! // Always take breaks or else your brain will switch off and the revision you think you're doing just won't be going in. It has been recommended that people should take a 10 minute break for every 30-40 minutes of revision that they do.
Tip 6 | Don't wait until the last minute // I honestly have no idea how people leave all of their revision until a couple of nights before their exam (don't you just hate those people who do this and always get a better grade than the person who spent weeks preparing)! The earlier you start your revision the more prepared and relaxed you are likely to feel before your exam.
I hope you find these tips useful and if you have anymore, leave them below!
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