"Ace Your Exams with These Last-Minute Study Hacks"

So, you're in a bind. You haven't prepared for your exam, but you're watching YouTube videos. Shouldn't you be studying instead of stressing yourself out? This stress leads to procrastination, which only makes you more anxious. It will take time to stop this cycle, but in the meantime, here are some last-minute study tips to help save your grades.

If you often cram for exams, pay attention to the last study tip—it's something no teacher ever taught me, but it saved my grades. Here's a preview: When the exam starts, don't open your paper. Flip to the back. Watch the video till the end to learn more.

First, don't cheat. During revision, ideally, you should read your textbook first, then do questions. But if you're short on time, take past papers or sample questions and write down all the answers from the marking scheme. Study these model answers, and only refer to your textbook if you don't understand something to save time. I usually do this a day or two before exams to reinforce knowledge without doing questions. This tip is effective if you're cramming, as it focuses on what the teacher or marking scheme wants.

Next, save time by skipping to the back of each textbook chapter. Instead of focusing on the key points at the beginning, go straight to the summary or questions at the end of the chapter. Highlight any keywords you don't understand and work backwards from there. Often, exams pick these questions, just rephrased. So, take advantage of the last page.

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Make your study sessions short and intense. According to a lecture at the University of Melbourne, use the FRILLS technique (Frequent, Regular, Intensive, Limited Sessions). For example, if you want to study for eight hours in a day, study for two hours, rest for 30 minutes, study for another two hours, rest for two hours, study again for two hours, and take a three-hour break. This way, you study for eight hours but also have over five hours of rest.

Watching videos and using cheat sheets can also help. There are many YouTube videos summarizing topics. If you're cramming, watch these videos to avoid going into revision clueless. Open the video transcript to read along and change the playback speed to 1.5x to speed up learning. Write down keywords as you watch, which helps with retention through multi-sensory learning. After watching, review the keywords and create a mind map to connect concepts. You can also search online for chapter summaries or cheat sheets and read those instead of making notes.

Finally, a study tip that can save your exam: When the exam starts, don't open the paper. Flip to the back and use the first five minutes to write down everything you know—keywords, processes, formulas. If you've been cramming, this information is floating around in your mind, not stored in long-term memory. Writing it down helps you remember it during the exam. You can refer to these notes when answering essay questions. This tip works even if you haven't crammed; I use it all the time now.