Update and hints/tips for exams
Hi everyone,
So I haven't been active for a very long time but hopefully I will be posting a lot more now. I had been revising for my A Levels the last few months and completed them in June, and I just wanted to create a quick blog to not only update you all but to just offer some tips and hints for exams or assessments for school or college.
I find exam season really stressful and during the run up to exams I often get frustrated with the fact that my revision isn't going in. I had a bad exam during my A levels and just wanted to create some tips which may help some of you whether you are going to study for GCSES or A Levels.
Also please bear in mind these revision techniques should apply to a lot of you, but I studied English language and literature combined (AQA exam board), media studies (AQA exam board) and ICT (WJEC exam board) at A Level.
Ok, so first, the run up to your exams -
1) My main tip for the run up for your exams is to definitely organise your time - you could make a timetable (I find this isn't useful for me as I don't stick to them) but maybe just make a to do list every day and only revise the things which are your main priority. Once you do something cross it off and you will feel like you have accomplished something!
2) Attend any extra revision sessions/tutorials which are on offer and don't be afraid to ask your teachers questions or hand in extra work! Teachers are your best resource, if you don't understand something see them about it.
3) Make sure you are revising in the most suitable way for yourself. If you can revise by reading and writing things down then just go with that. I really struggled with my revision at first because I didn't know what way to revise which would actually help me to obtain the information. I must say I found practice exam papers or questions useful because you get used to similar questions and you can see what type of style questions the exam board use - you could even make your own questions if that helps. I also think that another useful way to revise is to talk to someone else about what you are revising. I read 'The Great Gatsby' for my English A level exam and loved the book so much I chatted about it to everyone. This helped me remember key parts of the novel/key quotes and page numbers etc. I also think that doing some background research for any subject you revise for is useful, if you can add a bit of context to something you talk about in an exam will automatically stand out to the examiner. You could even watch videos or just read about things to help you with revision - it doesn't have to be a daunting three hours sitting at a desk reading and writing everything you know about a particular topic. Try and make it as useful and fun as you can.
4) Make sure you have time for yourself, don't spend too long revising and take breaks when you do revise. You don't need to revise everyday to get good grades, remember...work smart not hard! During exam season, some nights I just did nothing and spent my time doing things I actually enjoy, it took my mind off the exams which made me feel a little less nervous.
Exam tips:
Exams are extremely stressful for many different reasons. I had a really bad A Level English exam and I feel it could have gone better if I had a bit more time, but one thing which I found difficult in my first exams is the pressure of starting the exam and feeling like I should already be writing. I did two English exams and in the first one I completely rushed into it without actually thinking about what I needed to do. I quickly annotated the text and rushed into writing when I should have just taken a deep breath, re-read the question and annotated slowly. For my second exam, I decided to just be way more calmer and it helped a lot. It's easy to say stay calm but if you try it, it really does work.
I would be mindful of your diet during exam season - I recommend eating pasta and drinking lots of water for afternoon exams as they keep your energy levels up. Also, get a good nights sleep and if you don't know it the night before just go to bed!
In the actual exam, read the question three times or re-read it until you have a full understanding of what the question is asking. Be mindful about words such as 'explain' 'describe' 'state'. Before my ICT exam, my teacher told me that if the question asks you to explain you should try and talk about advantages and disadvantages. Whereas, if it just says 'state' you only need a brief definition. I think highlighting these words in exams are important too so that you can stay on track with what the question is asking.
I hope these exam tips help, I know exams are completed now but hopefully they will be of use for next years exams.
P.s I wrote some of this during exam season which is why it is so late to be posted because I completely forgot to update!
Thanks,
Beth
So I haven't been active for a very long time but hopefully I will be posting a lot more now. I had been revising for my A Levels the last few months and completed them in June, and I just wanted to create a quick blog to not only update you all but to just offer some tips and hints for exams or assessments for school or college.
I find exam season really stressful and during the run up to exams I often get frustrated with the fact that my revision isn't going in. I had a bad exam during my A levels and just wanted to create some tips which may help some of you whether you are going to study for GCSES or A Levels.
Also please bear in mind these revision techniques should apply to a lot of you, but I studied English language and literature combined (AQA exam board), media studies (AQA exam board) and ICT (WJEC exam board) at A Level.
Ok, so first, the run up to your exams -
1) My main tip for the run up for your exams is to definitely organise your time - you could make a timetable (I find this isn't useful for me as I don't stick to them) but maybe just make a to do list every day and only revise the things which are your main priority. Once you do something cross it off and you will feel like you have accomplished something!
2) Attend any extra revision sessions/tutorials which are on offer and don't be afraid to ask your teachers questions or hand in extra work! Teachers are your best resource, if you don't understand something see them about it.
3) Make sure you are revising in the most suitable way for yourself. If you can revise by reading and writing things down then just go with that. I really struggled with my revision at first because I didn't know what way to revise which would actually help me to obtain the information. I must say I found practice exam papers or questions useful because you get used to similar questions and you can see what type of style questions the exam board use - you could even make your own questions if that helps. I also think that another useful way to revise is to talk to someone else about what you are revising. I read 'The Great Gatsby' for my English A level exam and loved the book so much I chatted about it to everyone. This helped me remember key parts of the novel/key quotes and page numbers etc. I also think that doing some background research for any subject you revise for is useful, if you can add a bit of context to something you talk about in an exam will automatically stand out to the examiner. You could even watch videos or just read about things to help you with revision - it doesn't have to be a daunting three hours sitting at a desk reading and writing everything you know about a particular topic. Try and make it as useful and fun as you can.
4) Make sure you have time for yourself, don't spend too long revising and take breaks when you do revise. You don't need to revise everyday to get good grades, remember...work smart not hard! During exam season, some nights I just did nothing and spent my time doing things I actually enjoy, it took my mind off the exams which made me feel a little less nervous.
Exam tips:
Exams are extremely stressful for many different reasons. I had a really bad A Level English exam and I feel it could have gone better if I had a bit more time, but one thing which I found difficult in my first exams is the pressure of starting the exam and feeling like I should already be writing. I did two English exams and in the first one I completely rushed into it without actually thinking about what I needed to do. I quickly annotated the text and rushed into writing when I should have just taken a deep breath, re-read the question and annotated slowly. For my second exam, I decided to just be way more calmer and it helped a lot. It's easy to say stay calm but if you try it, it really does work.
I would be mindful of your diet during exam season - I recommend eating pasta and drinking lots of water for afternoon exams as they keep your energy levels up. Also, get a good nights sleep and if you don't know it the night before just go to bed!
In the actual exam, read the question three times or re-read it until you have a full understanding of what the question is asking. Be mindful about words such as 'explain' 'describe' 'state'. Before my ICT exam, my teacher told me that if the question asks you to explain you should try and talk about advantages and disadvantages. Whereas, if it just says 'state' you only need a brief definition. I think highlighting these words in exams are important too so that you can stay on track with what the question is asking.
I hope these exam tips help, I know exams are completed now but hopefully they will be of use for next years exams.
P.s I wrote some of this during exam season which is why it is so late to be posted because I completely forgot to update!
Thanks,
Beth
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