Tips for the Revision Period

Leave plenty of time to revise so that you don’t have to do last minute cramming. Giving yourself adequate time will help to boost your confidence and reduce any pre-exam stress as you know you have prepared well.

Develop a timetable so that you can track and monitor your progress. Make sure you allow time for fun and relaxation so that you avoid burning out, but avoid drugs and alcohol.

Take a short break as soon as you notice your mind is losing concentration. Make yourself a sandwich. You will then come back to your revision refreshed. Be careful that you don’t reward yourself during your break with five minutes of TV or checking your e-mail or Facebook. A few minutes can easily turn into an hour before you know it.

Experiment with alternative revision techniques so that revision is more fun and your motivation to study is high. Try mind-mapping, use multi-coloured index cards, get yourself an assortment of highlighter pens.

Don’t drink too much coffee, tea or fizzy drinks; the caffeine will ‘hype’ you and make your thinking less clear. Eat healthily and regularly; your brain will benefit from the nutrients. Don’t give in to a Saturday evening of binge drinking, either!

Regular moderate exercise will boost your energy, clear your mind and reduce feelings of stress. Try out some yoga, pilates, tai chi or relaxation techniques. They will help to keep you feeling calm and balanced, improve your concentration levels and help you to sleep better.

Tips for the Exam itself

Avoid panic. It’s natural to feel some exam nerves prior to starting the exam, but getting excessively nervous is counterproductive as you will not be able to think as clearly.

The quickest and most effective way to eliminate feelings of stress and panic is to close your eyes and take several long, slow deep breaths. Breathing in this way calms your whole nervous system. Simultaneously you could give yourself some mental pep-talk by mentally repeating “I am calm and relaxed” or “I know I will do fine”.

If your mind goes blank, don’t panic! It will just make it harder to recall information. Instead, focus on slow, deep breathing for about one minute. If you still can’t remember the information, then move on to another question and return to this question later.

Take a small bottle of water into the exam with you and some sweets (if allowed—find out ahead of time). Have a drink of water. If you are really stuck, you might consider getting up and taking a short walk outside the room to compose yourself or going to the toilet. Ask the invigilator for assistance. When you are able, get back to work – remember that it is better to put something down rather than nothing.

Remember that the invigilator is there to assist you (for instance, if you have a problem with distracting noises inside or outside of the examination room, if the sun is shining on your exam paper, if you need a drink of water, etc.).

Survey what’s in front of you

Read the instructions carefully
Quickly survey every page of the exam paper
See what will be expected of you
Re-read the instructions a second time (are you really being asked to answer either one or three of the questions?)

Prioritise what needs to be done

When surveying the exam paper, place a mark beside all questions you know you can answer
Divide up your time according to the importance of the questions
Answer the easiest questions first to guarantee marks in the least amount of time

Pace yourself

Do not rush through the exam
Regularly check time left for the rest of the questions
Give yourself time to proofread; you should not still be writing at the invigilator’s “5 minutes remaining” announcement

After the exam

The day before the exam, you might want to decide what you are going to do immediately after the exam ends. Standing around and joining in with others’ delight or dismay is almost always discouraging. If you have something already planned you can simply leave others to do the post-mortem, while you go and do something more enjoyable. Whatever you do, don’t spend endless time criticising yourself for where you think you went wrong. Often our own self-assessment is far too harsh. Congratulate yourself for the things you did right, learn from the bits where you know you could have done better, and then move on.

Plan to reward yourself for your hard work. After the exam, do something you enjoy that makes you feel special: take a relaxing walk, have coffee with a friend, buy yourself a present, exercise, have dinner at a favourite restaurant, take a luxurious bath with candles, soft music and a good book (not a textbook). If you are going to meet up with someone, you could agree with them that you will only talk about the exam for 5 minutes – or even not at all. It’s important that you let the stress of the exam go if you have more exams to sit over the next few days or weeks..

Some Anxiety Reduction Techniques

Take a deep breath:-

hold it for three seconds
exhale audibly all at once and let your head, jaw and shoulders drop
breathe easy ‘into’ your neck, jaw and shoulders and breathe again into the relaxed state
repeat cycle once or twice
if you try this in an exam, you will likely want to exhale more quietly so that you don’t disturb the other students

Total tension release (can be done lying down or sitting):-

tense your whole body one part at a time
lift your toes and tense both calves
tense your thighs and buttocks
tighten your abdomen
tense your chest and back
tighten your arms and clench your fists
tense your neck and clench your jaw
tightly close your eyes
take a deep breath and hold it for five seconds
let your breath and the tension in your body go all at once
feel the tension leave your body

Relaxation sanctuary (useful in the exam):-

focus on the inner screen of your mind’s eye
imagine your ideal, safe, relaxing place
close your eyes
in your mind, send yourself there for 15 to 30 seconds
breathe easily and enjoy the relaxation
go there whenever you need a quick relaxing break (make sure you don’t fall asleep if you are in the middle of your exam, though!)

Smile!

really feel that smile spread throughout your body
take a deep breath and exhale through your mouth

Tips for the Revision Period