Before Exams Starts Strategies for Students Exams Success

Before exams starts strategies for students exams success that  I am about to share are rare skills and knowledge that many have not notice and are not very often documented. Its a tacit knowledge that I am sharing as part of my strategies that have helped me in every exams and still counting.

When we published 6 Ways to Fail WASSCE 2020  Exams and beyond  , it was a big eye opener and we believe this will also be another favourate

Before you start writing your answers in an exams, there are basic things you have to do. Writing an exams and passing in an art only a few have mastered. Some also know the act but have never realized the importance of what they do in the exams before they start real business of answering questions.

In this write up, I will attempt to bring to the fore before exams starts strategies you need to take note of and use in every examination hall before you begin to answer the questions.

#1 Check the environment, watch clock and time 

When you enter an examination hall, you must get to know where the clock is, check for alternative routes out of the exams hall, seek to know the watch room area. It is important you know the exams environment or surroundings.

When you notice the location of the clock, check your time to see if it corresponds with that of the clock.

You can feel shot changed if an exam ends at 12.30 pm yet you are told to stop writing at 12.25 pm simply because your watch is five minutes late. Or you hear 10 minutes more, you check your time and it says you have 15 minutes more.

#2 If you are unhappy with your seating get it changed

Again before exams starts strategies include the comfort you have in the given exams hall before the exams actually starts.

There are times, you enter an exams hall and you notice, your seat is either bad, or the desk is weak. In some instances, your desk is positioned in such a way that, the desk wobbles then use some paper to stabilize it or get it changed.

Some times, the sun may scotch you or the wind may blow and make you uncomfortable. If the is an air condition in the exams room which is making you very uncomfortable, tell the invigilator.  Any of these should be reported to the invigilator

If there is a problem in your seat position at any time of the examination, tell a watchman who will do all it can to help.

For instance the sun may be in your eyes or you are unable to see the clock in which case you will probably be re-seated somewhere else.

Whatever happens, ensure where you are sitting makes you completely happy. After all, if you get irritated now, then you become more irritated in an hour when you try to focus and you get distracted from the task by any of other issues listed earlier.

When you feel anxious or jittery, start to breathe deeply and release your breath slowly. Breathe deeply,  Press your toes down in your footwear and release it. Give your self some inspiration.

You can also try to  stop thinking about the examination and imagine your self in a beautiful garden with all the best nature has to offer. You can picture your self singing your favourate song and smiling. Do this until you have calmed down once again.

If you feel uncomfortable, even if it’s cold, tell a invigilator in your exams room. It can’t do any harm, and if you don’t do as you expect it to do, you can pay.

#3 Make sure you understand the instructions

Verify that you received the correct examination paper and carefully read the instructions. Understand how many questions you are to answer and how many questions from each section you are going to try if the paper is divided into sections. This is very important. Once I sat for an exams in the university, I failed to read the instructions to the end.

It was a paper I was sure to crack easily. A+ was an obvious outcome. I was done with the three questions to be answered, read through and turned it in an hour to time.

As I walked down the stairs from the fifth flow, I decided to look at the instructions and again. It read: “Answer only three questions in all. Question One is compulsory. I missed the second part of the instruction.  Many students make the same mistakes today. They feel they already know the rules. and that they don’t bother reading the instructions.

The reality for me was that, the instructions had changed, hence my reader, the format of the exam ca change this is the more reason why you must read the instructions.

#4 Check there are the correct number of questions and paper

On the front of the paper you can find information on the number of questions. Check if there are the expected number of questions, if you have the required number of question papers and whether all the pages numbered are in order.

This does not only guarantees the right printing of your paper but also makes you aware of questions, for example on the back page, where many people forget to look.

Once the bell goes for you to start work, do not jump into answering any question. Relax and  remembering all the things you believe you might forget about from your study, such as everything you’ve learned over the last couple of minutes before you entered the exam.

On the plain back or any side where you can, jot down key points, examples and definitions. You can also open to the last page of the question booklet and cross through the page as though you made a mistake. Now start writing all that you can remember about each question you want to answer.

Conclusion 

When you have done this for about five to ten minutes, you can begin to answer your questions. Answer easy questions first, explain points you are comfortable with first and build your confidence as the exams progress and you will come out with flying colours. Now that you know these before exams starts strategies for exams success it is time to put them into action.