No matter which year you are in or the type of studies you have are undertaking, exam period is one of the most stressful time of life. Thankfully, with good exam preparation, you can manage some of the stress of exams.
You cannot be too prepared for exams, so congratulations if you are one of those the few who have been preparing since Day One. For everyone else, the clock is ticking down and a good time to start your exam preparation is at least a month before they are due.
A month before exam
What to do?
- Revisit concepts you learnt since the term/semester started
- Understand how to use these concepts and why you need to use them
- Talk to your teachers/lecturers about topics you have some difficulty grasping
- Do some research online for additional clarity; video tutorials can help
- Schedule study time for consistency and habit
- Purchase or borrow study books with exam-like questions and answers
- Form study groups and help each other out
Two weeks before exams
What to do?
- Practice past papers (at least the last 3 years)
- Identify your topic strengths and focus on them
- Some questions or formats are always likely to come up, identify the pattern
- By now you should be studying everyday, with regular breaks in between
- Your study hours should also be higher than the norm
- Study to understand, not to memorise
- Avoid distractions and put an immediate end to your procrastination habits!
One week before exam
What to do?
- Morning, afternoon or evening person? Find out what times works best for you
- Hands down, early morning is the best time to study after a good night’s sleep
- Continue practicing past papers
- Keep getting wrong answers? Try again until you get it right
- Unsure about certain topics, ask for help from teachers and classmates
- Ask your teachers for tips on how to score higher
- All else fail, memorise! Write down your notes for better results
Exam week
What to do?
- Do not stress, be calm and tackle your papers one exam at a time
- Take breaks in between studying, especially before the next exam starts
- Have two exams on the same day? Study for them on different days
- Stay focused and concentrate
- Eat well and get a decent amount of sleep every night
After exam
What to do?
- Relax and don’t stress, the worse is over. Except for your result… which you cannot do anything about – so just relax and don’t stress.
