We all know of classic means of studying. Past papers, notes, quizzing each other, breaks and many others. These are patterns that everyone falls into. Another pattern people fall into before exams is studying for whatever comes first, first. I never listened to any of that. To me, the HSC is just a game of mark maximisation, and whilst it made sense to do ‘something’ for my first exam, it wasn’t where my focus was. Instead, you might try to study for your later exams first.

This strategy has helped me out during high school and even now at university. Let’s go through the pros and cons, and one way you might want to try it.

Why study for later exams first?

The further you progress into the exam block, the less inclined you’ll be likely to study. In fact, this is especially true with the final exam, which leads to the whole concept of “last exam syndrome” – a situation where you do limited study, or just don’t study at all despite having one exam left.

To what extent this “syndrome” impacts you is subjective. What’s hard to deny is that it will definitely happen.

So long as you’re effectively studying, you will retain the knowledge for a later point in time. Combatting the syndrome is hard, but by studying for the later exams now you reduce the impact it will have on you when that time comes.

On the days before your final exam (or exams), whilst some people will be hurriedly trying to cram as much of that subject in as they can, you will be able to feel less guilty about doing a little less than usual. Of course, I certainly do not advise being that person who does no study at all, but you will have retained enough information so that when you read your notes/do one last paper, you won’t need to do it under extreme stress.

What are the drawbacks?

Of course, this method isn’t risk-free. Choosing to do this means you do need to reduce some time spent on earlier exams at the start.

This is the one major drawback that you may fall into, and the way of combatting it is to recognise that we aren’t saying to only study for the later exams. This method merely involves shifting the focus from the earlier exams to the later ones, during the first days of studying. As the exam block draws nearer, the focus gradually shifts back to studying for the first exam to come.

How should I do this?

As an example of how you might use this strategy, I’ll talk about my recent university exams.

I was going to start studying on June 3rd, and my first exam out of five was on June 14th.

What did I do? I started studying for my last exam first. Even though I struggled with the work in one of my earlier exams, I just turned my attention to something coming later. From the 3rd June to the 7th June, I focused on making sure I had my basics set for my three latest exams. During that period, I was also brushing up on some of the trickier content for my first exam – Notice I was ‘brushing up’, and not focusing on it.

Around the 8th June, as the exam block got closer, I shifted focus to my earlier exams. I prioritised my hardest subject (an actuarial course), and the effort I put into my later math exams decreased. By the 12th June, I was completely focused on my earlier exams.

During the exam block, I focused on whatever was coming the next day. Still though, I made an active effort to make time for that last exam, knowing I would be exhausted later in the exam block. It isn’t a strategy to just use once and ignore, it’s a strategy that I use whenever I felt was appropriate.

Does this mean you have to do exactly what I did? Definitely not. This is just one example – You should do what works best for you!