One of the most common mistakes students make is prioritising passive learning – reviewing/writing notes, flicking through slides, watching back lectures at double speed etc.

To make the most out of your study, it is vital that you put your knowledge and understanding to the test, and that is best achieved by recreating the conditions you are going to be marked in!

Practise exams not only test you on the content but the mental strain of exams.

Set the scene

If you’re going to get maximum benefit out of your practise, you should work to simulate exam conditions as best as possible.

This means:

  • Clear your space, you need it to be devoid of distractions
  • Put the notes AWAY – you need to test how you can walk without any crutches
  • Ensure there is a clock in your sight, you need to be watching your timing (the same way you would in an exam)
  • Give yourself the same amount of time, the same tools etc you would have in the actual exam – go through all the motions, including writing your name at the top of your page.

The more effort you put into simulating the experience, the less jarring it will be walking into the actual exam room.

As you go

As you work through your exam, highlight/mark up questions you do not understand or wish to work on more.

When reviewing the question later, you need to consider both:

  • The content the question is asking about
  • The type of question (consider how the question is structure, what elements you need to include in your answer)

Both of these can contribute to confusion in an exam – don’t just assume you need a better hold on the content and rush back to the PP slides.

In the details

During your ‘exam’ make sure you work through all the steps you would in the actual exam. Use 15 minutes of planning time, flip through the paper and mark questions before you begin, take time at the end of your set time to review and edit your work. If you want reviewing to work for you in the exam, you must practise it.

Regardless of how you think the practice exam went, it’s important that you mark your work. Sometimes you think you’ve nailed a question, only to learn you are missing a few pieces of information – or you think you’ve totally flunked a whole section, only to discover you would have gotten full marks. Marking your work helps clear the confusion and ensures your study is on track!

Happy studying!