Avoid common exam slip ups
Avoid common exam slip ups
For the final day of exam preparation week we are going to reveal the 5 most common student mistakes made in exams. As exam season begins next week it's best to make the most of these tips whilst their still fresh in your memory.
1. No excuses
One of the most important rules in not losing unnecessary marks is ensuring that no questions are left blank. Attempting questions that seem impossible will often help you to pick-up marks you hadn't accounted for. Often during the process of writing you engage your memory and unlock knowledge that you didn't know you had. The best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing you can do is the wrong thing, but the worst thing you can do is nothing!
2. Tricky Time-Management
In the examiner's reports it is common to read that questions towards the end of exams are often of a lower quality compared to questions at the beginning of an exam. This is usually an indication that students have failed to manage their time properly. Try to plan how long you are allowed on each question by dividing the number of questions by the overall length of the exam. This will give you a rough time-limit per question, and help you to manage your time.
3. Straight From The Horse's Mouth
Find the time to read some of the examiner's reports on the subjects that you are most concerned with. If you can see where students are struggling, it will help you reduce the chances of making the same mistakes. Several of them will be available on the internet and downloadable for free as PDF documents. Alternatively one of your teachers maybe able to assist.
4. Sometimes Less is More
Examiner's regularly state that students struggle to be selective with the information they use when answering questions. Consequently they are “brain-dumping” as much information as possible hoping to cover all of the required points. This approach can lose students marks! Be selective and intelligent with what you write down, and overall you will achieve a higher mark. Writing unnecessary content also wastes your precious time in the exam and gains you no extra marks.
5. Easy Evaluation
Students regularly misunderstand questions that require evaluation. Questions that asking you to evaluate often use a wide-range of words. “Critically evaluate, contrast, consider, and discuss” are some of the common evaluation-words that are likely to appear in your exams. Make sure that you have a working knowledge of words that require you to “evaluate”. If you misinterpret the question irrespective of how well-prepared you are it is likely that you will score very few marks.