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How was your class test yesterday?

If it didn’t go too well, don’t worry. Just take the test as a stamina and time management practice. Remember that the mid year exam is going to be for a longer duration, but there will also be more questions to complete in that length of time.

The trick to completing the exam paper well and in time? I have some tips for you which I found useful as a secondary school student trying to ace my exams:

1. Understand the content that you are studying. Do not just memorise blindly because when you are doing your exam paper, the points which you memorised but did not understand will be useless as you may not be able to use them in your explanations. It also wastes more time thinking about the content instead of knowing them well enough to manipulate it and use it for your answers.

2. Have enough practise answering questions.  Another major part of the exam other than learning the content, is actually what you have to do while you are in the exam hall; just you and the paper face-to-face: ANSWER THE QUESTIONS.  There are a few ways this can be achieved: -practising by doing assigned homework, – practising via class tests / tasks and – practising at home with extra assessment books, sample questions, past papers etc. Getting feedback and working on that feedback helps you get better.

In general, even if you don’t have enough time to practise enough because of time constraints, during the exam, you should be very clear in your mind what the question is asking, and then writing an answer that fits the question.

3. Sleep well the night before the test / exam.  Even when I couldn’t finish studying for my exams, I would still try to get at least 6 to 8 hours of sleep the night before a major exam. This is crucial because you need a fresh and alert mind to tackle your paper.

4. Keep your head  up! Have a good attitude! Do not be defeated by past failures or a bad attitude. I always tell my friends this motto I have about exams: Preparation is half the battle won; the other half depends on how you perform during the exam itself. Go into the exam hall with a good, confident and humbled mind. Do not be complacent because chances are you will make mistakes if you are proud.  Try your very best in that paper so that you don’t let yourself down and go away thinking that you should have tried harder.

******Savvy tips for the savvy student!******

All the best!

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