Top Tips for Getting Through Exams Alive

After 4 years of exam experience in the British education system, I felt I was finally qualified to express my opinions/advice/warnings about the big scary world of exams. Whether these are mock exams, GCSEs or A-levels, all of these tips and tricks should save you a lot of time, energy, and stress. Before you start wondering why you should listen to this probably straight A* student about how she conquered exams with her eyes closed, let me reassure you. I am an average student, with average grades, perhaps I had to retake an exam once upon a time (we don't talk about that). I was once a naïve student who believed I could learn my whole 2-year French course in 3 weeks (spoiler alert! I can not). I wish I had stumbled upon this info and actually digested it for the last four years, oh well, we live and learn. So, here is my unsolicited advice about how not to die between the months of May and June.

1. Plan Plan Plan Plan Plan

Too much planning perhaps? If you fail to prepare, then you are preparing to fail. This is a statement that my parents loved to recite to me during my schooling years, and however much it annoyed me, it is so true. If you leave revision to the last minute, information is just not absorbed correctly. You will be revising to recite rather than revising to understand. This is especially important with A-levels. If you don't understand the content properly, then one tricky question in a paper could cause a dramatic impact on your grade. Sit down with a list of subjects, exam dates, syllabuses, and a big calendar (I got a whiteboard one from Amazon). Put into the calendar all the exam dates, and then work 3 weeks back from each. I recommend calling these three weeks your intense weeks. Aim to have either rewritten notes, made flash cards, or written essays by the start of this time (this should be stuff you do during the years as well, but make sure they are complete by the time the intense sessions starts). You will then have the next three weeks to learn the flashcards, read over notes, rewrite essays (get them marked by your teachers and improve) and do practise questions/ past papers (more on this later). This may sound like a generous amount of time however when you multiply this by between 3 to 10 subjects then this quickly becomes a lot of work. By spacing out your secondary revision over three weeks, you will still allow yourself downtime and will be able to maintain a life outside of exams (something in the past that I have not been able to do due to poor planning) The idea of this is to stop yourself from becoming overwhelmed, because that is when overworking can strike (more on this soon).

2. Past Papers and Practise Questions

If you only read one of these tips, this is the tip you should read. In theory, if you have been listening all year, and have done all your homework, then in an ideal situation this tip alone could get you through exams. Doing every past paper you can get your hands on will work wonders on your ability to answer questions accurately and within the time limit. As much as we would like to believe that exams test our intelligence, they are really only testing our ability to read the exam boards mind and write down exactly what they have on the mark scheme. The more practise questions you do, the more you will understand the mind of the examiner and what the exam board are looking for. If the structure of your answers are not right or you don't write a counter-argument to your points, then no matter how much you revised, you will probably fall short of full marks on those questions. That's why it is so important to understand what is wanted of you. Therefore, make sure that in your intense 3 weeks, you do lots of past papers, under time pressure too. One thing I really advise doing is to look back over past tests. Look at what topics you know well, go over questions you didn't understand, repeat questions of higher marks. MOST IMPORTANTLY look at the mark scheme, there is no point doing the questions if you don't mark them, (this is a lot easier at GCSE than A -level). If you struggle to mark your own work, you can ask a teacher or a kind friend. Never overlook the importance of practice. Practise really does make perfect.

3. Breaks/rest/downtime/social life are so IMPORTANT.

Previously I have mentioned the importance of downtime and maintaining a social life during exams. However, this is only possible if you don't become overwhelmed with work and feel like you have to work through your breaks and days off. This briefly touches on tip 1, where planning your "fun time" also becomes essential. Things like meeting friends, going out for dinner, seeing movies; these should all be written alongside your revision plans. This will mean that not only will you have things to look forward to and motivate you, but you will also allow your self to recharge and regroup your brain cells, to help you stay in a positive frame of mind. Revision can seem endless and exam blues can take effect. If you allow yourself an escape from the work, without feeling guilty this will benefit you in the long run (especially near the end). Knowing that your relaxation time is not going to run into dedicated revision time you can fully enjoy it and switch off. BE WARNED! You are not a robot, do not underestimate how many breaks you need. An overestimation of abilities can lead to overworking. Overworking is the exam equivalent of the black death, you will feel tired, unmotivated, will have brain fog, a headache and a general hatred towards work. THIS IS TO BE AVOIDED AT ALL COSTS. Moral of the story—fun is good, even during exams.

4. Sleep Pattern, Diet, and Exercise

This may seem obvious, but when you are on study leave, your natural routine will go out of the window. The obvious solution is to try and match your old school routine with your new home revision. Try and keep to the same meal times and sleep patterns (obviously only if these were good ones, to begin with). Make sure you are getting between 8 and 10 hours of sleep a night, how well you sleep will affect your abilities the next day. You can keep the same sports routine as well, but you may even want to increase it. Exercise is amazing for your physical and mental health, and during exam season this needs to be on top form. Finally, if you are of a certain age, make sure you either stop or reduce your consumption of alcohol, this will allow you always to have a clear mind in the morning, and you won't waste any time being hungover!

5. Revolutionise your flashcards.

I love flashcards. At GCSE, they were my top way to learn each science syllabus in less than a month. However, flashcards have their disadvantages. I tried to fit every point in my textbook onto a flashcard, this eventually meant that I had purchased over 1000 cards to finish my topics and feel like I had actually revised. Sometimes I found there wasn't enough room, sometimes there was too little (name an alloy metal), sometimes I had to skip stuff to ensure I had enough cards. Overall quantity was always an issue. Furthermore, flashcards are heavy; I had around 50 cards per topic for my psychology A-level, and I had around 11 topics! If I ever wanted to learn them "on the go," then it was a massive faff just to protect them from being destroyed in my bag. So the morning of a psychology mock, I decided to try a new technique. I was at school, so had no cards with me, instead, my laptop. I opened a word document and my psychology paper 1 folder and started writing questions and answers throughout the topic. I found that I could write around 50–70 questions in an hour. This was amazing! In literal no time at all, I had a whole topic on one piece of paper, and in so much detail! The obvious downside to this is that when learning them yourself, you will have to stop yourself from looking at the answer (alternatively you could have a separate answer sheet). This solution was quick, lightweight, and was so effective, I learnt more in those 4 hours than in the last week of revision! At the end of my psychology A-level, I had a 26-page document of 10,770 words, covering 11 topics with roughly 50-70 questions per topic. A whole psychology A-level, 3 papers, 2 years of work condensed into 10,770 words. This was bliss! (And something I could take anywhere with me).

Quick Fire Suggestions!!!!!!

Mind Maps. Essay Plans. YouTube tutorials. Teaching an imaginary class. Making posters. Lots of water. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE LISTEN TO MUSIC WHILE REVISING. Lots of breaks. Play with your pets. Leave your phone is a different room. Have an app countdown to your exams. Drink Ginger tea before exams. Always triple check exam times. Make sure you have multiple pens. Rest. Find a peaceful place to revise. Eat a good meal before exams. Make sure you know that exact layout of the paper. Try to avoid revising with friends (it doesn't work). Don't revise on your bed. Try not to have a strict timetable. Allow for flexibility. Relax. Don't lose hope. Never give up. Exams will end, eventually.