8/7/2019 How to Revise and Prepare for Exams

1/4

Objective/Multiple choice exams

1. Do the questions you can readily answerfirst to build your confidence and to help you relax.Dont spend too much time on any single item; make a notation of it in the margin and return toit later.

2. Answerallquestions. Leaving a question unanswered assure no points for that question.Guess if there is no penalty for guessing.

3. Read questions and allalternatives carefully and thoroughly.

4. First impressions are usually the best unless you can specifically state why you are making achange.

5. Absolute terms (e.g., always, never, only, must) may indicate incorrectanswers.

6. Qualifyingterms (e.g., sometimes, could, should, believe) may indicate correct

answers.

Short-answer/Fill-in-the-blank exams

1. These exams generally ask fordefinitions orshort descriptions. Heres where knowing thenew vocabulary really pays off.

2. When studying, concentrate on key words and facts.

3. Be concise in your answers.

10waystorevise

1. Makemindmaps/flowdiagramsandputthemonthewallofyourbedroomsothatyouseethemeveryday.

2. Makeupsongsormnemonics.

3. Keepalearninglogofwhatyouhavelearnteachday.

4. WatchBBCbitesize.

5. Useinternetrevisionsitesorrevisionguides.

6. Doexamquestions

7. Crea

terevi

sioncard

s

8. Summariseyourknowledgeonatopicin500words,then200words,then50untilyougettheinformationdownto10keywords.

9. Readsectionsofbooksthatsummarisestheinformation.

10.Makerecordingsoftheinformationandlistentoiteachday.

8/7/2019 How to Revise and Prepare for Exams

2/4

Howtoreviseandprepareforexams

Howdoweprepareforexams?

Planourrevision

Preparenotestolearnfrom

Regularlyreviewournotes

Obtainpastpapers

Practiceansweringquestionstotime

Practiceusingquestionsfromlecturesandtutorials

Rememberthatrevisionhasavalidpurpose

Goingoverworktocheckyourunderstanding

Makelinksbetweendifferenttopicstoseehowwholesubjectfitstogether

Remindyourselfofmaterialyouhaveforgotten

Reinforceyourlearning Identifyandfillgapsinknowledge

Whatarethebestwaystorevise?

Leasteffectivejustreadingnotesoverandover

Mosteffectivewhenyouinteractwithmaterial,makingitmeaningfultoyou:

o Reworkingmaterialintoachartordiagram

o Summarisingmaterialunderheadings

Discussingmaterialwithothers

o Makelinks,comparisonsandcontrastsbetweendifferentareasofwork

o Evaluatedifferenttheories

WhatdoIrevise?

Beforedeciding,collectthefollowinginformation?:

Courseoutline,handouts,essays,projects,syllabus(aimsandobjectives),notes,books,articles,

pastpapers

Listalltopicsandsub-topicsofeachsubject Askyourself:

o Howusefulisthisformyexam?

8/7/2019 How to Revise and Prepare for Exams

3/4

o HowmuchdoIunderstand?

o Howeasy/difficultdoIfindit?

Selecttopicstorevise:dontreviseeverything

Decideorderofyourrevisionandwhethertostartwitheasytask,thendifficultoneorvice

versa

Workoutarevisiontimetable

Createasetofrevisionnotes

Whatarethebestrevisionmethods?

Readthroughnotes:breakintosub-topics:writesummaries,askcriticalquestions

Recallwhatyouhaveread:outlines,plans,diagramsetc.

Devisepotentialexamquestionsandthenanswerthem

Reviseinarevisionclub.

Prioritisekeypointsforeachsectionofatopic

Starttoreviseearly

Avoidlongspellsofjustreading-workinmoreshortspellsratherthanfewerlongones

Giveyourselfvariety

Sticktorevisiontimetable

DoIneedarevisiontimetable?

Yes!Tryandfollowthesesuggestions: Outlineareasofcourseyouwillcoverandwhenyouwillrevise

Notedateofexam

Writedownwork,familyandpersonaldemandsontime

Makenoteoftimeyouhaveavailable

Berealisticensuretimeforrestandrelaxation

Daybeforeexamreviewoldmaterial

Howdoweprepareforexams?

Findoutaboutexamformat:

o Lookatpastpapers

o Whereandwhen?Howlong?

o Howimportantistheexam?Whatistheassessmentweighting?

HowdoIcopebeforetheexam?

Getupinplentyoftimeandtrytoeatsomebreakfast Checksuppliesmorethan1penforexample

8/7/2019 How to Revise and Prepare for Exams

4/4

Doyouhaveyourstudent/examno.?

Beingoodtimegettingtotheexam

Atthestartoftheexam

Checkinstructionscarefully Becertainaboutnumberofquestionsyouhavetoanswer

Checkreverseofpageanymorequestionsorinstructions?

Tickquestionsyouintendtodoputtimingnexttoeachone

Mayhelptostartwitheasiestquestion?

Duringtheexam

Underlinekeywordsinessaytypequestion Makesureyouunderstandquestion

Makesureanswerisrelevant

Spendsometimeplanningeachessayjotdownideasthenorganizethem

Keepaneyeontime!

Ifrunoutoftimewriteinnoteform

Allowfewminutesatendtocheckwhatyouhavewritten

Crossoutroughnoteswithstraightline

Re-writeanyillegiblewords

Checkanswersarenumberedcorrectly Ensureyourdetailsarefilledinonfrontpage

Aftertheexam,havearest,treatyourselfandreflectonthewholeexperienceforfutureexams!