Tip #3: Make sure you are studying where information fits not just what!

Exams are hard enough as it is - so you should be looking for ways to make your job a little easier. This is one of the best ways.

Everyone spends heaps of time learning WHAT the content is but no one spends time on WHERE the content comes from. For us, the two are equally important!

What we mean by ‘where content comes from’ is to do with the SYLLABUS (your best friend!). We know it can seem like a boring meaningless document - but it actually has all the answers to your problems…you should learn to love it more than a fat kid loves cake.

Most syllabus documents are structured like this:

• Headings = major cores or options
• Dot points
• Sub-dot points

Your exam papers are usually structured like this:

• Sections = headings (each core or option topic)
• Questions = syllabus dot points
• Answers = sub-dot points

OMG what a weird coincidence right? It kind of makes sense when you think about it. The markers make the exam using the syllabus so we need to use the syllabus to do the exam. This is how you use it:

1. Help structure your study

Most people spend their time pouring through textbooks and loads of content without actually stepping back and looking at how things tie together. Having an idea of how topics link together or what sub-dot points fall under each topic area will help you structure the subject in your own head. That’s half the battle.

**Pro tip: **get the syllabus and delete out all the content. See if you can fill in the entire syllabus perfectly without looking online. This will make sure you’re across the course back to front.

2. You know what to include in your answers

If you know where in the syllabus the question has come from, then you automatically know what points you need to cover. If the question comes from Topic 2, dot-point 3 then you know you have to include the sub-dot points from that topic. No ambiguity. No second guessing. The answer jumps out at you.

3. You know what to exclude from your answers

On the flip side, if you know what you need to include you also know what you’re allowed to exclude. So instead of wasting time and energy talking about random dot points from the wrong part of the syllabus, you only include what the marking criteria wants.

4. Makes your answers more concise and less wishy washy

This one is simple. If you look at the question and you know there are 4 sub-dot points in the syllabus, then you automatically have a structure for your answer and you can hit those points clearly and concisely. No waffling around the point. That’s what markers love!

**Pro tip: **Once you get really good you can start highlighting the syllabus dot points in your answers. It makes it MUCH easier for the markers because at the end of the day that’s what they’re looking to give marks for. They’ll love you for it!

SO many students get their results and think they have written the best answer but end up losing marks. This is because whilst what they wrote might be correct it's not what the marker is looking for - because it wasn't the sub-dot points related to the question.

It's about organising the information as much as it is about learning it. Knowing how the content all fits together is always overlooked but it’s how the best gain an edge. That’s why the Atomi lessons are completely structured into syllabus headings and dot points. Der.

The syllabus is your best friend, so before tomorrow’s exam it might be worth looking over the syllabus instead of your notes?