Recommended Reading
I have tutored a lot of students who have a good ability in maths but get in to exams and the panic hits them. Everything they’ve learnt goes out the window and they don’t perform anywhere near as well as they know they can. This can be incredibly frustrating. If you’ve sat in an exam room, staring and a paper thinking “but I know how to do this!” hopefully these tips will help.
1. Get a good night’s sleep
You can’t work to your best ability if you’re tired. Don’t stay up all night the night before an exam.
2. Eat well, but not too well, it will make you tired
A big meal will make you weary, but a rumbling stomach will be a distraction.
3. Be well prepared
Take everything you need in to the exam, ruler, pencil, at least two pens and a calculator if you’re allowed.
4. Only do flashcard revision right before the exam.
The last thing you need just before you go in to an exam is pages and pages of stuff. Only look at well prepared flashcards to “top up” your revision.
5. Take a bottle of water in with you
Staying hydrated will improve your brain’s ability to work hard.
6. Aim for a “mark a minute”
If a question is worth 2 marks, don’t spend 10 minutes working it out, it’s not worth spending too long on questions that aren’t worth big marks. Aim to spend 2-3 minutes on a 2 mark question, that way you should finish with time to spare to go back and take a second look at harder questions.
7. Go through the paper once doing the questions that you find straightforward.
Go through the whole exam paper only answering questions that you don’t struggle with. Then you’ve got some marks under your belt before you attempt the harder questions.
8. If you find a question you can’t do, move on and come back to it if you have time at the end
Don’t get work up over one hard question; it will affect how you do in the whole exam because that frustration is hard to leave behind. Move on and come back to it later, clearing your mind of the question might actually help you find the answer!
9. When you’ve found an answer, think whether it makes sense in the context of the question
This is particularly useful with decimal questions, to make sure the decimal is in the right place. It’s also useful for measurements. If a question asks how fast a cyclist travels the answer is more likely to be 20 miles/hours than 20 miles/minute!
10. Take a break
This may sound a little crazy; under time pressure it can be easy to start rushing. You will waste less time taking a minute or two to take a breath than rushing through and making mistakes.
Hope this helps!
