Taking the Exam
Preparing for exams is key, as is managing your time well during the exam. At the start of each exam question, take a note of the time when you start the question and record on a piece of paper when you should finish this question. Keep an eye on the time so that you don't go over this deadline.
Write clearly in all of your answers. You are throwing marks away if your writing isn't legible and the English isn't clear and grammatically correct. Far too many exam candidates lose credit because they do not make their hand-writing clear. The examiner is busy and doesn't have the time to spend trying to interpret your hand-writing. Make sure it is readable.
Keep some sheets of paper separate for notes. Use a sheet per question to write a quick plan of your answer. This will only take a couple of minutes and it will help you to not forget anything. The structure of the plan will help guide you through your answer so that you don't spend too much time on any one part. The notes sheets can also be used to quickly write things down as they occur to you. Rather than try to remember a point you want to make later, write it down on your notes sheet. It's better to quickly write them down, rather than try to remember them during an exam.
Tips for Answering Questions
Answer the question in front of you, not the question you want to answer. Some candidates hope that if they show some knowledge that is related to the question in front of them, that they will get some credit for it. This is not the case. You get no credit for answering a different question, and it's just a waste of your time.
You get more points when you start answering a question, than you do towards the end of one. If you are coming to the end of an answer and are struggling to write anything relevant, move on to the start of your next question. You can always come back to this question five minutes before the end of the exam to add anything from your notes sheet.
If, when answering one question, you think about something you want to add to a previous answer, quickly write it down on your notes sheet and come back to it later. Stay focused on the question that you are currently answering.
When you notice you are coming to the end of the time you have for a question, make sure you leave the answer in a complete state. Don't leave it in mid-sentence. Complete the thought that you have and move on to the next question. It's extremely important that you manage your time well at this stage and that you stop answering one question and move on to the next one. You may be tempted to keep writing, trying to get every last mark. However, moving on will probably get you more credit.
Review Your Exam Answers
When you get to the end of your last answer you should have 5 minutes to review all of your answers. Quickly go back over them, starting at the one you feel may benefit from more consideration. Re-read the question and look at your answer to see if you can improve it. Do this for your other answers too.
After the Exam
Once you have left the exam hall, put the exam behind you. There is no point analysing what you did and how you think you performed. Reward yourself by doing something that you enjoy and then move on to the next exam.
Conclusions
Taking a number of exams requires you to review all of the material you have been taught. You also need to ensure you manage your time well in the exam. By following the advice above you will be able to perform better in all of your exams and be more successful as a result.
This article is based on the author's 10 years of university-level teaching experience observing the habits of people who are successful at exams.
