How To Pass Exams Successfully

How To Pass Exams Excellently

You know, there's more to life than books, just not much much. That was how the British rock band The Smiths sang back in the 1980s. Right now if you're studying in school or college, you probably agree with that sentiment very strongly. You can feel like your entire life revolves around tests, and one lot of research is out of the way no sooner, but you are instantly pitched into another! The bad news is that tests proceed long into your twenties if you take up a career such as medicine or accountancy. Fortunately, in order to make the pain worse, there are a few things you can do.

1. Ask the teacher

Teachers probably have a single function, as far as you are concerned: to help you pass your exams and then get a job or move on to the next stage of your education. Teachers themselves see things a little differently-don't forget that every year they have to get hundreds of students through tests, but their expectations are normally in line with yours. Know that your enemy or your nemesis is not your teacher: he or she is not out to frustrate you or irritate you. It could seem at the moment, though that teachers are always trying to support you. Take advantage of the assistance and you will never regret it. Whenever you need it, ask for assistance: that's what teachers are there for.

2. Beat the professor

That said there are many good teachers, and also a few poor ones, as you'll find out for yourself. Most of your teachers are passionate about how well you do (even if they don't let on) and one or two couldn't really care less about what happens to you (especially if you don't care about yourself very much). The first top tip I have is not to rely on teachers for your exams to get you through. Teachers are going to support you immensely, but it's basically your work and yours alone. The older and older you get, the more you learn that teachers and lecturers place their students in charge of passing exams. In fact, what does that involve? The first thing is to know the curriculum or syllabus you are learning and exactly what you are supposed to know about each subject. Ask your instructor to provide you with a copy of the material you are working on or check on the Web for yourself. (Note that various examination bodies can use slightly different curricula, so be sure to find the right one.) Armed with this data, even if you do not know it you will at least know what you need to know. Hey got me?

3. Understand the system for marking

It is vitally important to understand how the marks are assigned before you go anywhere near an exam. You will find that 75 percent of the mark comes from the test you are sitting at the end of the academic year, while the instructor allocates the remainder depending on coursework or tasks you are doing during the year itself. It's really important that you grasp the marking scheme right at the outset, whatever it is. You can't hope to save yourself at the last minute with a surprisingly successful exam result if 90 percent of your mark comes from course work and you do that poorly all year round. Similarly, even though you've done brilliant coursework, you still need a decent result in the exam if it counts for just 10 percent of your overall mark. You will distribute your energies correctly if you understand where your marks are going to come from.

4. Plan your overhaul

I still get a recurring nightmare about not having begun my revision in time more than 4  years after I last sat an exam of some sort! Though it is Chore, you can never really spend too long reviewing it. Teachers will tell you that it's typically better to spend a small amount of time reviewing each day over a long period of time than having to cram the night before your exam with all your review. But for various individuals, various methods of work. Many individuals think focused revision suits them better. Before proceeding with another subject, some prefer to amend one subject entirely; others prefer to alternate revisions between various subjects. You should find a pattern that works for you as you become competent at exams. One good tip is to make a routine of revision: treat it like work and make yourself revisit whether or not you feel like it between some fixed times of the day. No-one really feels like revising it but you'll find it a lot simpler if you get into a routine where you still start and finish at the same time. Another helpful tip to stop your brain overloading is to intersperse your revision with calming activities. As long as you understand the difference between break and diversion, go for walks, listen to music, hang out with friends, play sports, whatever you want. However, you will probably miss reading books until your analysis is finished.

5. Prioritize topics that are vulnerable 

Aim to revise all but spend more time on stuff that you don't understand or less well understand. This sounds simple but incredibly difficult to do. About why? Since we want to do simple things, our inclination is to rely on the things we already know when we rewrite them. Ask your instructor or look at the marks you've got on coursework over the year if you're not sure what your weakest subjects are. Prioritizing poor topics often goes back to recognizing the method of labeling. Let's presume that your review includes writing three essays for you. They will most probably bear equal markings. Even if you know two subjects by heart and earn perfect marks, you risk losing up to a third of the marks if you can't compose a third essay. So poor subjects would have a disproportionate impact on your total mark, pulling down far more of your overall ranking. That's why you should give the most attention to poor subjects.

6. Be truthful with yourself 

What good are you at and what bad are you at? You may think you're good at it all, but you're always going to have weak points that you need to work on. And if you believe something is bad for you, that's probably not true either. Ask your educators to spend a little time with you to help you understand where your efforts need to be centered. They'll be able to oblige, most often.

7. Study renders ideal 

Now as teachers always tell you, technically, exams are a way to test your understanding and knowledge, and the aim of studying is to get a good education, not to pass exams. Yet tests count for a great deal, and a great deal of our schooling is explicitly tailored to helping us pass them. Like it or not, you'll have a horrific amount of tests in your life. Practicing examinations such as playing a sport or a musical instrument makes sense. Your teachers will most probably get you to try out actual test questions or past exam papers. If not, get yourself a hold of certain questions and papers and test yourself under actual examination conditions. Can you actually, in three-quarters of an hour, write a strong essay about the causes of the First World War? Just try and see. One of the easiest ways to boost exam performance is to practice test questions and papers under time pressure. Don't forget that teachers are as usual creatures as anybody else; exam papers are always set by the same individuals from one year to the next, so specific subjects can occur over and over again.

8. Make use of memory aids 

All the things you need to know in an exam can be very difficult to recall, so use memory aids if you need to. No, I'm not writing the answers on your shoulder! "When you had to recall the colors of the spectrum, a memory aid such as "Richard of york gave fight in vain" [red orange yellow green blue indigo violet] was possibly taught you to use. You may take this definition a step further and memorize lists of items that you need to recall or even complete essay plans that you will have to write. All you have to do is take and the thing you want to remember with the initial letter and make up a phrase that helps you remember the letters. By simply memorizing six basic words, you can then recall half a dozen essays in order! When I was a student, I memorized hundreds of essay plans this way. The only thing you need to be careful about is that, really, you do...

9. Respond to the question 

Your revision can be performed so well that you think you know your subject inside out, back to front, and in every way. It is brilliant! But just remember, you always need to make sure you answer every question properly in the heat of the test. Make sure that the essay you write is the one that the examiner needs to read, not the essay that you just happen to have rewritten if you memorize essays ready to write them back in an exam. So take your time to read the questions on the exam paper and understand them. The more senior you are the more likely you are to find that it is not absolutely straightforward to essay questions on exam papers. Before you remember "Oh yes, this is actually a question about x/y/z. They've mentioned such-and-such but what they're really asking me about is so-and-so" Again, practicing previous exam papers can help you understand what you're being asked and present your expertise in the way the examiner intends.

9. Respond to the question 

Your revision can be performed so well that you think you know your subject inside out, back to front, and in every way. It is brilliant! But just remember, you always need to make sure you answer every question properly in the heat of the test. Make sure that the essay you write is the one that the examiner needs to read, not the essay that you just happen to have rewritten if you memorize essays ready to write them back in an exam. So take your time to read the questions on the exam paper and understand them. The more senior you are the more likely you are to find that it is not absolutely straightforward to essay questions on exam papers. Before you remember "Oh yes, this is actually a question about x/y/z. They've mentioned such-and-such but what they're really asking me about is so-and-so" Again, practicing previous exam papers can help you understand what you're being asked and present your expertise in the way the examiner intends.

10. Bear in mind why you research 

Yeah, you want to get your exams passed. But don't forget that you're just trying to get a decent education and learn and understand things. Try not to let yourself become a locomotive that passes exams. Ultimately, even though you like pieces of paper written on them with 'A,' that's not the exercise's item. If you enjoy a subject and you would want to learn about it that will ultimately be much more satisfying.