Exam strategy 101: Part 3 - During the exam

And so we come to our final part in the series of exam strategy. What to do during the exam. In other words, how to be ready at game time.

Part 3: During the Exam

So now you’re sitting in the exam hall, listening to a teacher tell you that 2 hours of hell are coming and you need to think fast. No sound. No distraction. No outside world.

We get it, exams feel scary. But that kind of makes sense because you’re in an environment like no other. So how do you minimise all that pressure once you’re actually in the frying pan?

1. Routine

If you’ve read anything on our blog you’ll know that we are huge fans of routine. That’s because routine is familiar, it’s ordinary and it minimises unpredictability. In an exam hall, which is the most unfamiliar environment ever, having things you are used to helps with your mental state.

So take in the same pencil case you always use. Walk in the same way you usually do. Set up the desk in the same way, blue pens on the right and calculator on the left (if that’s your thing). If you usually work without a blazer, take it off. Same goes with shoes. Make the desk and the environment yours. If you make things seem more familiar, you’ll have a better chance of relaxing and performing at your peak.

2. Breathe

This is not the time to panic. You’ve done all you can and you’ve got to trust that you’ll get a mark that you deserve. During reading time, during writing time and especially when you hear ‘5 minutes to go’ stay as calm as you can and breathe.

Whilst it feels time is going 100 times faster than normal you always have time to lift your head and take a deep breath. It sounds simple but it’s amazingly effective.

Think of your desk like a bucket of water. When you’re head down and working hard you are submerged. Drowning. You can’t breath and after a while you start to become frantic. By lifting your head out of the bucket you can take a nice long breath and see things clearly once again.

So breathe. Best thing is, you already know how to do this one :)

3. Have a strategy

Exam’s started and everyone’s scrambling away and freaking out! But not you. No, you’re calmly sticking to your exam strategy, which goes something like this:

• Start at the beginning of the paper and do the questions in order.
• If you can get a question straight away, then go for it. No silly mistakes.
• If you have absolutely no clue, skip it immediately. Don’t waste time figuring out just how screwed you are.
• If you only have half an idea of what you want to say, take some time to plan out an answer and think about it. The more time that goes by the more frantic you’ll become. So if you need to do some thinking, now is the best time.
• Revisit the questions you couldn’t get first time around to see if something has jogged your memory.

Exam experts call this “the zone.” Muhammad Ali had it, Serena Williams has it, and now you will too.

4. Breaks

Take breaks. They work. It’s science.

Have a drink, crack your knuckles, go to the bathroom. Heck, close your eyes for ten seconds. Do anything you can to take your mind off the exam for a few seconds, and do it every half-hour.

Your brain is a wonderful thing, it’ll even think about the question while you’re drinking your water. You know that feeling when an idea just comes to your head? It’s because your brain is working even when you aren’t.

You’ll be surprised by how much going to the bathroom and splashing water on your face can do for you when you’re trying to crack the last question on your maths paper, or figure out the mutli-choice in a Modern paper.

A 2-minute break will do a lot more than another 2 minutes of frantic writing.

5. Check your work

Boom! You’ve finished with 40 minutes to spare. Missed a question here, potentially screwed one up over there. But overall? Not too shabby.

But your job isn’t anywhere near done. You’ve got to check your work. There is nothing worse than getting your maths paper back and seeing that you didn’t actually write down the final answer after all your working or you accidently missed an entire question on the back page.

Don’t laugh. You’ll be surprised by how many people realise that they’ve skipped an entire question.

Checking your work is to protect you from yourself and your own silly mistakes. If you have the time it’s an absolute must.

Ultimately, exams are hard because of the environment, not just the questions. The time pressure, the room, the possibility of unpredictable questions. But the trick is, if you can control your environment you’ve won half the battle.