The stress and pressure of examination have more influence on your life than you can imagine and this might cost you your precious grades. Do you want that? Obviously, the answer would be no! So, to eliminate this fear all you need to do is to keep calm and plan carefully, ticking all the loose ends. This way not only will you save the marks but also secure the opportunity of achieving the best grades. A good technique of exam preparation can make a big difference in how you will perform in the exams.
This article will shed light on some deadly mistakes students do due to exam pressure. Once you learn about the mistakes, it will be easier for you to eliminate them.
1. Carelessly Reading of Question
This is among the major mistakes students make in the examination. Let’s see it from a bit of a science perspective. Human brains are habitual of seeing things they appreciate and this become highly realistic when it comes to pressured situations like an examination hall. If you lose your attention while reading a question, your brain is likely to signal that question is demanding something different – making you write something which is completely wrong and does not include the answer to the question. And you know that this means: losing grades. Remember once you get the question paper, read the question as many times as possible to make a clear concept of the question. You can also underline the main thing of the question to ensure you have given the right answer.
2. Writing an Essay, You Have Over Learned
Even if you have understood what the question has to ask, it is very likely that you lose track and start writing the one you want to write rather than the one you have been asked for. This specific problem arises when you end up over revising some essay. Knowing an essay topic inside out becomes an undeniable urge in your heart of showing off all the expertise you have over a certain topic and you include what you have learned in the essay you have been asked for. Although it is surely very frustrating not getting the essay you have learned the best in the examination but still you have to stay focused on the question you have been asked and try to include everything that is relevant and related. Another thing to be noted here is that “do not try to enforce something you have learned previously in the essay” as it might make sense at some point but also has the chance of looking something extra.
3. Not Creating an Essay Plan
To be all set for answering the essay exam question in an effective way, it is very important that you have a proper format and structure of an essay, to begin with. Now you may ask what could happen if you start writing without an essay plan? Well, not having any beforehand plan for an essay may get your thoughts off the track, making you forget what to write next. Another thing could be that you end up writing things in a different manner which does not make any sense to the teacher. In a normal exam, a student is required to write up to 4 essays and a lack of a plan may result in shifting the thoughts from one to another. To shift quickly between the essays mean you are required a high amount of mental suppleness. Writing a proper plan for each essay plays a role of a barrier between all the essays, allowing your thinking organ to breathe and think in a better and organized way. You do not need a detailed plan; all you need is to make some points that keep you on track on the writing journey. Write some points, describe them in one or two words and that’s it.
Below you will find an example of what an essay plan could look like if it is an ideal situation:
- Introduction.
- Reading questions and planning what to write.
- Timings
- Multiple choices
- Proofreading, checking of grammar and spelling
- Conclusion.
This will provide you with a rough idea of the sections of an essay and what things you are about to cover without writing too many details. This plan is enough to remind you what you have learned and what things are necessary to be included in the answer. It will not take more than a few minutes to write this down prior to the essay and can provide a wonderful outcome.
4. Leaving Questions Which Are Easy
This thing has been done many times by the students that they neglect the importance of doing the easier questions first and leave them for the end. This is not a good idea in the majority of cases. If you come across questions which you can do in an easy manner, just do them first hand. This way, you will be able to secure the marks which are in front of your eyes. Starting with the harder one makes you answer them not as much perfect as you could and you end up securing fewer grades – which is not a good idea. And in any case, you spend more time on the difficult ones, you are likely to miss the questions you are perfect at and miss the opportunity of more grades. So when you get the exam paper, ensure you shortlist the easy question and work on them first.
5. Running Out of Time
It is known to be a students’ classic mistake that they spend too much time on the starting questions and due to this reason left with no time for the rest. Timing is the most crucial aspect of any exam and must be carefully divided in order to attempt the whole question paper as you have to cater too much into a short span of time. You must have come across some past question papers before entering the exam hall, if you have not, you must. With keeping those past papers in mind, you have managed the time to ensure there is enough time left to attempt each question with leaving a few minutes to proofread the whole content. There must be some clock in the classroom, make sure you keep proper attention on it. In case you succeed in answering some questions before the time, don’t relax, move straight towards the next question as each minute is important when it comes to examination.
6. Trying to Write More When Less Time is Left
Trying to write the complete answer when less time is left is another major mistake students often make. This can even cost your marks. If you are caught up in a situation where you are left with not enough time, just pen down the details in a bullet point manner (of course lengthier than your essay plan). This way, the examiner will understand that you are well aware of the answer and could not write it due to lack of time. Remember if you try to write everything in hurry, you may end up making mistakes which might cost you your precious marks.
7. Not Answering a Multiple Choice Question
Multiple choice questions are among the easiest form of examining because they include the possible answer which means you can come up with the right answer after cancelling the ones which are possibly wrong. Still, there are students who leave ticking any answer if they are not aware of the right one – and this cost them grades. Try not to do this, make sure you tick the option which seems more possible to you.
8. Other Multiple Choice Question Issues
Most of the time students mark two different options without overlooking the fact that how the examiner will understand which one you mean is right. If you have mistakenly ticked the wrong answer, make sure to put a big cross over it before ticking another one.
9. Leaving Exam Room Before Time
If you are an efficient worker and have managed to get done with the exam before the time, you need to stay put. Many students do the mistake of leaving the exam room. Remember, once you leave the exam room, there is no possibility of corrections left. So, even if you end up before time, utilize the extra time you are left with and read each and everything you have written over and over again. This will help you be confident about the answers you have given. As you through your work, you will come up with the newer points to add which are likely to improve your overall performance. Once done that, again proofread everything until there is time left.
10 Poor Grammar and Spelling
Students don’t pay much attention to grammar and attention but they are the heart and soul of your exam. Many students have been seen complaining that they got fewer marks when they have done the exam in a perfect manner – but why is that so? Well, because the examiner has deducted the marks of grammar and spelling. Although for assignments you can hire Essay Writers UK but in exams, there is an unseen tension with making you do unexpected mistakes. For instance, you may write “right” when it should be “write”. Thus, you need to do a strict quality check before handing your paper to the examiner.
Conclusion:
When it comes to exams, smart planning, cautious scheduling, and a thorough approach to each question are all that is required to get a few points here and there. One or two marks may not seem like much, but if you’re on the cusp of a grade change, it may make the difference between an A and an A* (for example). And this could be crucial in terms of your university application and the courses that will be available to you based on your scores. However, as you can see, there are a variety of strategies to gain extra marks in the exam room just by avoiding typical errors.