Exam Techniques

Affirmation

In the event of nervousness/ doubt, say to yourself: “I can do this” and repeat it 3 times. Affirmations are a powerful tool of encouragement and support. You can support yourself through them.

Read the last 3 to 5 questions first

These are usually the harder questions. By doing this you are allowing your brain the ‘thinking time’ to make the connections and process the information required for these challenging questions.  Ever had the experience where, a word is at the tip of your tongue and you just don’t recall it, yet you feel you know it and randomly at another time, it just appears! It does this because your brain subconsciously processes. The brain is a powerful processor!

Time Keeping

A general rule of thumb is ‘a mark a minute’. This will allow you to gauge how much time you spend on each question and make a judgement on your pace.

Editing 1

Check that your answers make mathematical sense. For example: The answer to 9 x 0.6 should be a value smaller than 9.

Editing 2

Errors in writing. To check if there are any, take your focus away from the paper. That’s correct, look away from the paper, not with closed eyes but, to focus on something else and return back to the question. For example: physically look at the ceiling and then look back at the question you were focusing on. The reason for doing this is because sometimes, we become trapped in our focus thus, preventing us from seeing any errors. By temporarily turning our focus onto something else, it allows the brain to see things with a fresh pair of eyes, literally!