By Malaika Gabra, Year 12
As exam season readily approaches, everyone’s least favorite time is just around the corner. But instead of going into exams with a defeatist attitude, think about exams as just another place for you to show your vast and in depth knowledge of a subject. Does this sound easier said than done? Here are some tips so that you can be that annoying person after exams who thought it was “ so easy!”.
- Give yourself enough time to study!
Starting to study one week before the exams might work for some people, but for most it just becomes a source of worry instead. Cramming is never helpful, so instead aim to start your exam revision about a month to 6 weeks ahead of time. Starting too early can also be counter productive, as you’ll more easily forget information you studied long ago.
- Use your old tests or find new ones!
One of the greatest sources for exam revision is right at your fingers for every subject! Your old tests! This requires organization from the beginning of the year, but if you collect all your tests for your subjects, you can easily practice subject specific questions for all classes. Also, reviewing your tests will show you where your strengths and weaknesses are between subjects in a class.
Nevertheless, the internet is an amazing resource for tests quizzes, and practice questions and especially for ib students all its take is typing in, for example, ib standard math practice questions for you to find lots of great practice.
- Figure out what kind of studying works best for you.
Some people are visual learners ( mind maps and diagrams are for you!) while others prefer listening to a video or even explaining the concept to someone else. Whatever your case may be, start off by figuring out what kind of studying is most effective for you. Not sure? Try and remember a test that you did really well in v.s. one you failed, and compare how you studied for each.
- Keep exam stress in check by eating healthy and exercising.
As simple and over said as it sounds,exercising regularly and eating well will help you for exams. Although skipping football practice might seem enticing when you have a pile of biology questions to do,exercising will not only help relieve stress, but it will help you sleep better and be more focused studying later
- Prioritise subjects that you struggle with the most.
As obvious as it sounds, some people try and focus equal energy on time on subjects regardless of their strength. Before you prioritise, make sure the subject that your ‘leaving behind’ is completely set in stone and you understand it completely. Then target your weakness and plan to study that more accordingly. For example, even within a subject like Biology, let’s say you’re a photosynthesis pro but you never quite got the hang of cells? Aim to study more time on cells. It’s that simple.
Exams can be scary and nerve wrecking but if you prepare and go in confident there is no reason for you to fail. You are in charge of your own learning, and before you know it, summer time will be ours again, so study now so you can have fun later.
