Exam prep and mindset
Exams coming up? Dial your anxiety levels down and your grades up with these preparation tips
Everyone has their own way of revising, so find what works for you — there is no one-size-fits-all approach. But one thing that can help break up the lone study hours is to have study buddy sessions — and there's a specific smart way to use them. Most revision is about getting information into your brain before you go into the exam room. But that's not enough on its own. You also need to practice retrieving that information. And that's where study buddy sessions come in.
Instead of meeting up for an unstructured side-by-side study session, use them to test each other. Take turns asking each other questions on exam topics so you can practice recalling information ahead of time. This will make it easier on the big day and helps you identify your knowledge gaps, so you know where to focus your revision. You can also discuss topics with one another, which can help clarify anything you're a bit fuzzy on.
Don't just focus on learning facts
Make sure you understand the underlying principles of each topic area, not just a bunch of specific details. If you get stuck on a particular point in an exam, thinking through the underlying principle can help you better understand the question and unlock the specific information you're struggling to recall.
Learning principles — not just facts — will give you a deeper understanding of a topic than learning isolated pieces of information. Also, there are far fewer fundamental principles than specific pieces of information for any given topic, so focusing on principles means you have less to remember yet will have a deeper understanding of the topic.
Don't do all your revision on the computer
The act of physically writing notes and reading them aloud both really help with recall in the exam room. And if you're a visual person, don't just use words for your note-taking — use pictures and diagrams and anything else that helps you break down topics into clear, memorable chunks. Being able to visualise a diagram in an exam room is a great way to aid information recall.
Focus on what you can control
Exams can be stressful, but you can lower that stress by accepting you can't control everything and, instead, focusing on what you can. That means revising and preparing adequately and prioritising rest, healthy eating (e.g. not having a big, heavy meal that could make you tired just before an exam), and sleep in the run-up to exam day.
Do your best and be happy with it
Because exams seem so all or nothing, it's easy to feel you must be perfect. But perfection isn't possible. Just prepare well and do the best you can on the day. Things not going perfectly doesn't mean they went badly.
To give yourself the best shot at your exam, review the whole paper first, estimate how much time you should allocate to each question, then answer them as best you can in the given timeframe.
If you start feeling stressed or panicky in the exam room, focus on your breath. Take deep, slow, controlled breaths to calm your mind, then concentrate on the fundamental principles of the topic at hand to bring your mind back to focus.
Reflect and improve
After each exam, reflect on what went well and what didn’t, and think of things you can change and improve before your next exam.
