Getting Ready for Exams

Parenting

29 Apr

As exam season swings into action for the first time since 2019, Year 11 and Year 13 students as well as those who have already left school might need some tips and strategies for preparation as well as what to do on the day. This post aims to equip them with the skills needed to plan consistently for their exams, with a range of techniques to help them manage large volumes of revision information and strategies for improving recall and retention. It also includes ‘on the day’ exam strategies with tips for dealing with exam stress, and a list of useful online resources to seek further advice and support.

Revision Strategies

Most students need to revise content from two academic years. We suggest that the first step is to think about what content needs to be covered, and then choose the most suitable revision strategies to maximise recall and access to the information during an exam. The best revision strategy for one person might not suit the next, as this will depend on a range of factors including their preferred learning style, the amount of time left to revise, and so on.

Spacing

The spacing approach focuses on when you revise, and is based on a consistent approach over an extended period of time. It intersperses repetition with breaks or spaces in between revision sessions to support the retrieval of information. This approach is based on research that allowing time between bouts of revision enables the brain to forget information which is actually beneficial to remembering it long-term. This is because the repetitive process of forgetting information and remembering it again improves understanding, retention, problem solving and application of knowledge.

Interleaving

This approach focus on what you revise and involves switching between your topics areas to support recall. This works because the brain works harder to process information that is ‘jumbled up’ than if one subject is focused on at a time for a longer period. As with the spacing technique, this may cause the student to forget information short term but it has been proven to lead to better long-term recall. To do this, students should try to mix up the content they revise within each session, making sure that everything is covered by the time exams start.

Mnemonics

This is a memory strategy that helps the student remember things by using letters or phrases as a form of association. For example, to remember the colours of the rainbow, you may have been taught the mnemonic “Richard of York gave battle in vain” (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) or “naughty elephants squirt water”) to remember the points on a compass. Mnemonics work because they help students remember information quickly and are particularly suitable for lists or processes with lots of steps. It's important not to make the mnemonic so complicated that it's harder to remember than the information it represents!

Concept Association

This revision strategy involves linking information being learned with information the student already knows. This can improve the ability to recall the information when needed by enabling the development of a deeper understanding of the material. Linking new information to that with which the student is already familiar helps the brain develop pathways for recalling new information. Considering how the new information links to a person’s knowledge or experience can help them to think about the new information in different ways which increases understanding of the subject.

Generating Idea Clusters

Idea clusters involve linking new material with unrelated but well remembered information. This can be done with song lyrics (do any of you remember singing the periodic table of the elements?), lines from films or favourite stories whereby a connection is made with the information the student needs to remember. This is a useful technique when the student needs to remember a series of steps or more complex information and they have sufficient time to rehearse the association with an existing memory.

Cramming

Cramming is an approach in which the student attempts to commit all the information required for the exam into memory within a very short period of time. This usually doesn’t work well/ Firstly, this is because our memory is most effective when we exercise it over a longer period of time by linking concepts to information that is already known. Secondly, cramming doesn’t allow the brain to rest, which is vital in order to enable it to accept more information. Thirdly, cramming can raise anxiety, cause stress, memory fatigue and impact the student’s ability to maintain attention. That said, cramming can be useful when there is only a short time to prepare for exams, but we would advise that it should be avoided as a main strategy.

Practice Testing

Many students find it helpful to revise by testing themselves both as they prepare and again before taking the exam. To do this effectively, it is insufficient just to reread content: the student must rehearse their ability to recall the information from memory. Practice testing enables connections to be made to existing knowledge and helps the learner to recall the information more easily.

Leading Up to the Exam

Planning ahead and being prepared are the best ways to reduce anxiety and help things run smoothly on the day. Students should make sure they know the following in advance:

The date, location and time of each exam;
How they will be travelling to the exam, and thinking about a ‘plan B’ in advance in case things go wrong;
What identification is required for admission into the exam;
The type of exam being taken, and its duration;
Whether the student will have any exam access arrangements in place, and how they work/are applied;
What they are allowed to take into the exam;
How much time they should allocate to each question or section of the exam.

It may be helpful for students to prepare an ‘exam day plan’ in advance to help prepare effectively and to minimise stress.

On The Day

On the day of the exam it is important that students maintain focus and feel confident in the plan they’ve already put in place. Different things work for different people and it may help them to be quiet by themselves beforehand to maintain their thought process, or to calm their nerves by talking to friends. The following tips might also be helpful:

Getting to the test centre ahead of time so things don’t feel rushed, as this can be stressful;
Considering in advance whether it will be helpful to be alone or with peers before the exam starts;
Organising materials and do what’s needed to get into a state of calm. Mindfulness techniques can be useful for this.

In the Exam

Listen carefully to any instructions given at the start of the exam and make sure they are followed carefully;
Scan the exam paper to become familiar with requirements and choices if applicable. Notice how long the paper is so that no questions are left out at the end;
Read the instructions carefully. Then read them again. Misreading instructions and answering more questions than is necessary might waste time that could be spent on another section of the exam;
Answer every question that is required as even if not completed, some marks may be allocated for partial answers;
Allow time to review answers whether checking calculations, reviewing essays or answering tricky multiple choice questions you skipped earlier.

Then, take some time to relax…. and either prepare for the next exam, or celebrate if you’ve finished!

Helpful Online Apps and Resources

Managing Anxiety and Promoting Wellbeing

Advice from Mind about how to manage exam stress in young people

RocketEd's blog about Growth Mindset

RocketEd's blog about reducing anxiety for children and young people

Kooth: an online wellbeing community for young people

Togetherall: an online wellbeing community for young people

Revision Strategies and Techniques

BBC Bitesize: revision timetables and planning

BBC Bitesize: top revision tips

Skills You Need: top tips for studying